The Lion, the Lamb, and the Wolf
by kaitlintheclarinet
Summary: Bella moves to Forks when Renee and Phil move to Jacksonville. She already feels attracted to her friend Jacob, but what will happen when she meets Edward? Who will she choose? The faithful, happy Jacob or the elusive, mysterious Edward? BxJ & BxE AH/OOC
1. Welcome to Forks

**A/N So I'm warning you now that this is a completely different feel from TCS. I will still continue writing TCS, but this idea has been brewing in my head for awhile and I couldn't help but write it. I hope you like it.**

**As usual, I love hearing what you think: good or bad. I am always open for ideas and suggestions, so don't hesitate in telling me where you want the story to go. I always try to incorporate your ideas into my story because this is as much for you as it is for me.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight. Definitely not mine. :D**

BPOV

_Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?_

I asked myself this question in various different ways as I sat on the plane that was heading towards my new home in Forks, WA.

My parents divorced when I was two-years-old. My mother, Renée, was twenty-two years old and my father, Charlie, was thirty-two years old. The age difference sort of ruined any chance of their relationship lasting.

Renée packed our things and moved us to Phoenix, AZ. We lived in a small two bedroom cottage. Renée was a kindergarten teacher, so we couldn't afford anything better. I never minded the way that we lived; I was never a materialistic girl.

In school, I was always a kind of outcast. I only wore black clothing unless I had to dress up for something. My fingernails were always painted black and I usually wore a black band t-shirt and black skinny jeans. I stood at 5'4" and weighed 110 pounds. I had brown hair and brown eyes. I wasn't anything to look at; especially when you had beautiful blonde bimbos everywhere you looked.

I always had to take care of Renée who was a child at heart. She would try yoga classes one week and then try skydiving the next. She was very scatterbrained, but I loved her. I never minded taking care of her, though.

A few years ago, Renée met Phil. Phil was the exact opposite of Renée; he was very focused and determined. He was a minor league baseball player who hoped to get into the major leagues. Things got serious and they got married a few months ago. I decided to keep my last name as Swan while Renée changed her last name to Dwyer.

Phil got a job in Jacksonville, FL as a high school baseball coach. I decided that it would be better for them if they went to Jacksonville while I shipped myself to Forks to live with Charlie.

Charlie was the chief of police in Forks and was very dedicated to his job. Like me, he was calm, cool, and collected. He had never gotten over Renée, so he lived alone in the house that they bought together after they got married.

I hadn't seen a lot of Charlie over the years. I would spend a month with him during summer breaks every year, but I would usually hang out with my friends in the La Push reservation while he worked. Jacob, Quil, and Embry were the only real friends that I had. They knew the real me and accepted her. I loved them unconditionally.

The airplane touched down and I was apprehensive at seeing Charlie. The last time he saw me, I looked completely different. My hair was longer and less blunt. I didn't wear the heavy eyeliner and I didn't only wear black. I hoped that he wouldn't fuss too much about it. I doubted that he would; Charlie was never one to linger on things.

I got off the plane and went to grab my bags. Everything that I owned managed to fit in two duffel bags. I grabbed them and looked around for Charlie. I found him scanning the crowd, looking for me, with a sign that said "Isabella" on it. I sighed as I realized that I would yet again have to tell him that I went by "Bella."

I walked over to him and he smiled at me. A real, genuine smile that made him look a decade younger.

"I missed you, Isabella," he said while grabbing me into an awkward one-armed hug.

"It's Bella," I told him.

"Sure, sure," he said. "It's good to see you again. Can I help you with those?"

"Sure," I said simply.

He grabbed a bag out of my hand and we left the airport. I groaned internally when I saw that he had driven the police cruiser. I didn't want to be seen in the chief of police's car; that would call attention to me. I _hated_ attention.

We drove in silence to the house. I stared out the window at the gloomy, rainy weather of Forks. I knew it was something that I was going to have to get used to.

We pulled into the familar driveway where a large, rusty, red truck was sitting.

"What do you think?" Charlie asked.

"It looks the same as the last time I saw it," I said.

"Not the house," he said while shaking his head. "The truck. It's your homecoming gift."

"You got me a truck?!" I exclaimed. I was suddenly excited because I wouldn't have to walk or be driven in the cruiser. Both would have sucked to have to do.

"I'm glad you like it," he said.

We got out and grabbed my bags. We ran inside, hoping to stay somewhat dry. We walked towards my room which hadn't changed much from when I was born. There was still the rocking chair that Renée bought when I was born in the corner of the room. The desk had an obsolete computer on it and a chair that matched the desk. The queen sized bed was in the corner by the window and had a purple comforter on it. The closet was empty except for some hangers.

We threw my stuff on the bed and Charlie left me to unpack my things. I put my clothing on the hangers and put them in the closet. I pulled the pictures that I had brought with me and put them on the desk. There was one of me and Renée when I was eight after a dance recital. There was one of me, Renée and Phil after the Oktoberfest when I was fourteen. There was one of me, Renée and Phil at their wedding.

I pulled my cell phone out and called Renée so that she would know that I got home okay.

"Hey honey," she said on the first ring. "I miss you already. How was the flight?"

"It was okay," I said. "I miss you, too," I added.

"You can always come back home," she offered.

"No, Mom," I said, shaking my head. "I think this is better for all of us if we keep this arrangement. I'll be eighteen in little over a year."

"I know, baby," she said. "It's just hard to have my little girl so far away from me."

I sighed and said, "You know that I'll keep in touch with you. Phone calls once a week and e-mails two times a week. Just like we agreed upon before I left."

"I love you, Bella," she said. "I always will."

"I love you, too, Mom," I said. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, honey," she said. "Be safe and have fun."

I rolled my eyes before shutting my phone. I threw myself on my bed, exhausted from the flight. It didn't take long for me to succumb to sleep.


	2. Breakfast With the Blacks

**A/N So I'm working on a posting schedule for my stories. My two free days are Sundays and Tuesdays, so I'll probably do one story on Sunday and the other on Tuesday. Just a heads up. Or whatever. :D**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, I would be one lucky girl. Unfortunately, I don't.**

BPOV

I woke up groggily, forgetting where I was. I looked around the room and remembered that I wasn't in Phoenix anymore. I stretched hugely and got out of bed.

I walked into the bathroom and looked at my reflection. _I look like hell._ I splashed water on my face and brushed my teeth. I threw my hair into a ponytail before walking downstairs.

Charlie was sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Morning Bella," Charlie said without looking up. I was pleased that he remembered that I wanted to be called "Bella."

"Morning Charlie," I said. "I mean, Dad." I mentally scolded myself for my slip up. "Would you like me to make you some breakfast?"

"Um, actually, I don't think we have anything to make breakfast," he said sheepishly. "I was thinking about calling Billy and Jacob and going down to the Lodge for a brunch kind of thing."

"That would be cool," I said. "I miss Jake a lot and it would be cool to hang out."

"Okay, I will call them, then," Charlie said before setting down the newspaper and walking towards the phone.

"Hey Billy," he said when Billy picked up.

"I'm good," he told Billy. "Bella just got in last night."

"She's good, too," he said. "We were actually wondering if you and Jacob wanted to go to brunch in about an hour."

"Awesome," he said. "We will see you then."

He hung up the phone and looked at me. I realized that I was still in what I wore yesterday and told him that I was going to get ready.

I ran to my bedroom and grabbed my bag of toiletries before running into the bathroom. I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry scented shampoo and washed my body with freesia body wash.

I got out and wrapped a towel around my body and a towel around my hair. I walked back to my room and went to my closet. I pulled out a Linkin Park t-shirt and black skinny jeans and my black Converse. I put them on and walked back into the bathroom. I blow dried my hair so that it was straight and put on my dark eyeliner in an effort to make my dull brown eyes stand out more. When I was satisfied with my appearance, I left the bathroom.

I walked downstairs where Charlie was waiting for me. He was wearing a wife beater and a plaid button down shirt and jeans.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded and we walked out of the house. I begrudgingly got into the cruiser with him and we drove in silence towards the Lodge.

We parked in a parking space and I saw Jake standing outside of his car. I jumped out and practically ran towards him. I engulfed him in a huge hug and wrapped my legs around him. His smell attacked my senses and I felt like I was home.

"Hey Bells," he said in his husky voice.

"Hey Jake," I sighed happily. "I missed you."

"I can tell," he said with a laugh.

He set me down gently and smiled at me. I felt my face unconsciously turn into a smile. He took my hand and we walked over to our parents who were waiting for us by the door. I noticed that Billy was in a wheelchair and made a mental note to find out how that happened.

Jake and I sat next to each other while Charlie moved a chair out of the way so he and Billy could sit next to each other. I looked over the menu and felt eyes on me. I looked over to see Jake's eyes on me. I looked at him questioningly.

"I forgot how beautiful you are," he said quietly. I blushed at his compliment and smiled lightly.

The waiter walked over to us and I saw him scrutinizing me.

"Hi, my name is Eric and I'll be your server today," he said while winking at me.

Jake wrapped his arm around me protectively and I saw Eric glare at him. I saw Jake flex his muscles and Eric backed off.

Charlie, oblivious to the encounter, ordered black coffee and a breakfast burrito. Billy ordered black coffee and pancakes and bacon. Jake ordered orange juice and eggs and toast and bacon. I ordered orange juice and a bacon and cheese omelet.

"So, Bella," Billy said. "Are you excited to start school on Monday?"

"Not really," I said honestly. "It's going to suck not knowing anybody." Jake went to school on the reservation.

"You'll be great, Bells," Jake said while rubbing my arm soothingly. "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," I mumbled before grabbing my water.

Charlie and Billy started a conversation and Jake and I started talking. The waiter came back with our food. I noticed that he was a little nervous as he set Jake's food down. I thought that was funny because, as intimidating as Jake looked, he was like a big teddy bear.

I took one bite of my food and I couldn't help the small moan that I made as the food hit my taste buds. Jake bit his lip and looked at me with lust in his eyes. It took every ounce of self control that I had to not jump his bones right there, but somehow, I stayed in my chair.

"I think there's a game going on," Billy said as we started getting ready to leave. "Would you guys like to come over?"

"That would be awesome," Charlie said. I nodded in agreement and Jake smiled hugely.

We got in the cruiser and followed Jake and Billy to their house on in La Push. We pulled up to their small, red house. We got out of the car and Charlie walked over to Billy's car to help him get into his wheelchair. I smiled as I thought of random memories of Jake and me. We used to make mud pies in his backyard when we were really little. He let me cut his hair once when we were ten. His hair hasn't been long since then. We used to hang out in his garage when we got older and he would work on cars. I tried to teach him to cook one day and we almost burned down the house.

Jake wrapped his arms around me and I was jerked out of my memories.

"What were you thinking about?" Jake asked in my ear.

"I was remembering the day that I tried to teach you how to cook," I told him.

He laughed and said, "I remember that. Those poor pieces of chicken…"

"It's a good thing you so handsome," I joked. "Your culinary skills would turn any girl off."

He spun me around so that we were facing each other and looked into each other's eyes for an immeasurable amount of time. He started leaning towards me and I felt my heart race in excitement.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Charlie yelled from the doorway, oblivious to what was about to happen.

Jake sighed and said, "Sure, sure."

He grabbed my hand and walked me inside his house.


	3. Fun With the Rabbit and Quil

**A/N So I feel that ****I must start off by apologizing to you all by my failure of updating. Life is very demanding right now, and I find it difficult to update. However, marching band ends in a week, so I will be able to update more.  
**

**Next, I want to thank emmybaby, Alice-Rathbone-is-my-real-name, and Bloody Ale for reviewing and giving this story a shot. I realize that this is completely different from The Cullenary School, but I still appreciate the fact that you are giving this story a chance. I hope you like it.  
**

**Disclaimer: Twilight. Not mine. 'Nuff said.  
**

BPOV

Jake and I walked into his house, still holding hands, and it looked exactly as I remembered it. The living room had a television against the wall and had two large armchairs facing it. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room that usually had beer and pizza on it. There was a window in the middle of one of the walls that had cream colored curtains on either side of it.

Billy was sitting on one of the chairs and his wheelchair was against the wall by the window. I assumed that Charlie helped him get in the chair. Charlie was sitting in the other arm chair with the remote in his hand.

"Hey dad?" Jake asked. "Do you mind if Bella and I go out to the garage? I want to show her the Rabbit."

I pondered what the Rabbit was. The only Rabbit that I knew of was a vibrator, and I was fairly positive that Jake didn't have one of those.

"Sure, sure," Billy said. "You kids have fun."

Jake led me towards the garage where an orange car was sitting.

"What's this?" I asked curiously.

"This is the car I've been working on," Jake told me. "It's a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit, but we just call it 'the Rabbit.'"

I walked towards the car and got in the passenger side and looked around. The seats, dashboard, and the inside of the door was red. The steering wheel and the radio were black. The seats were very comfortable and I decided to recline it more.

"This is incredible, Jake," I told him in awe.

"Thanks," he said. "I just need a few more parts and then this baby will be running like new. I've been saving up so that I can get them."

"Do you have your license yet?" I asked.

"Not yet," he answered. "Billy can't drive me down to the DMV so I can take my test, and Quil and Embry aren't sixteen yet."

"I can take you to get your license if you'd like," I offered. "That is, only if you don't mind being hauled around in my monster of a truck."

"That would be awesome!" he said, looking genuinely excited. "Thank you so much, Bells!"

He leaned into the car and engulfed me into a huge hug. Somehow, he managed to get between my legs and I could feel his muscles against my body. I couldn't help the moan that escaped my lips. Jake's eyes darkened in lust and he leaned in to kiss me.

I felt like my body was on fire. His lips were so strong and yet so soft as they touched mine. Our lips worked in a nice rhythm and my hands weaved into his hair. I pulled gently his hair and he groaned into my mouth.

I heard wolf-whistling from the garage and I pulled myself away from Jake begrudgingly.

"Please don't stop on our behalf," Quil said with a smile.

Jake got off of me and I ran towards Quil. He picked me up and spun me around in a circle. The second he sat me down, I ran to Embry who was watching us with embarrassment. I gave him a hug, too.

"How are you guys?" I asked them.

"I'm pretty good," Embry answered. "I've just been busy with school and stuff."

"Same here," Quil said. "You know me - so many girls, so little time."

I rolled my eyes at Quil; he was exactly the same as he always was.

"Do you guys want something to drink?" I asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Quil said. Jake and Embry shook their heads.

I walked over to Jake's mini refrigerator and grabbed some pop for me and Quil. As I grabbed the drinks, I felt a hand smack my ass, causing me to almost drop the drinks.

I knew, without looking, that it was Quil; he would always do things like that to me. I decided to shake his drink before handing it to him.

"Here you go, Quil," I said sweetly, handing him the shaken can.

He opened the can and pop exploded all over him. All of us started laughing at the surprised expression on Quil's face.

"That'll teach you to not smack my ass!" I said, still laughing.

"You crazy bitch!" Quil said. "I didn't even smack you that hard. Now you're gonna get it!"

I stopped laughing and widened my eyes. Quil ran towards me and I started running out of the garage.

"You can't get away, Bella Swan!" Quil yelled, still chasing me.

I ran faster, trying to prove him wrong. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that there were thick roots from the tree in his front yard and I tripped over them and hit my head.

"Bella are you all right?" Quil asked.

I saw two people standing in front of me: Quil, and another Quil.

"There are two of you," I told him.

"Shit! Jake! Embry! Come here!" Quil yelled.

Jake and Embry ran over to where I was lying on the ground. Jake walked behind me and lifted me up into a sitting position.

"Bella, you're bleeding," Jake said. "We need to get you to the hospital."

I decided to not argue because, right after Jake informed me that I was bleeding, I smelled the blood and felt faint.

"I'm going to get Charlie and tell him what happened," Embry said.

Embry ran back to the house while Quil and Jake stayed with me. Jake took off his shirt and handed it to me.

"Put this where you're bleeding so the blood flow will slow down," Jake ordered.

I took the shirt and bunched it up and put it where I was bleeding. I was too queasy and dizzy to notice Jake without his shirt. I tried breathing through my mouth so that I couldn't smell the blood.

"Bella, are you all right?" Charlie called as he ran toward me, Embry following closely.

"Charlie, she needs to be taken to the hospital," Jake said. "Her head is bleeding."

"Alright," Charlie said. "Can you guys help her get into the cruiser?"

The boys nodded and picked me up like I weighed nothing and carried me to the cruiser. They set me in the car and buckled me up.

"Charlie, can we come, too?" Quil asked. "It's my fault that this even happened. I want to make sure that she's okay."

"Sure, sure," Charlie said. "Just get a shirt on, Jake and I'll take you."

Jake ran inside to grab another shirt. He was back outside in less than two minutes. The boys all got in the back seat of the car and we started driving towards the hospital.


	4. A Trip and Fall to the ER

**A/N Thanks to Bloody Ale for reviewing to last chapter. I appreciate you sticking with me, even though this story is completely different from TCS. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; I just play around with its characters.**

JPOV

I got in the back of the cruiser with Quil and Embry and we headed towards the hospital. I felt completely horrible for everything that had happened. I should have known better than to let Bella run around like that; she was always so accident prone.

The car was quiet as we drove to the hospital. Bella was slumped in the passenger seat with my shirt on her head, looking like she was about to pass out. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes were closed.

Charlie pulled into the parking lot and parked the cruiser. He got out of the car and opened the back door so we could get out. The three of us scrambled out of the car while Charlie opened Bella's door.

"Jacob?" Charlie asked, "can you get Bella?"

"Of course," I replied.

I walked over to her and picked her up. Her small, warm body fell wonderful against mine, and I smiled to myself. _She's perfect for me_.

We walked into the ER and sat down on the chairs in the waiting room while Charlie went to the desk to explain what happened.

I looked down at the face that I loved and smiled. Even barely conscious, she was stunning. I couldn't stop my fingers from lightly touching her face.

"Jake," Bella sighed; it made my heart explode with happiness. I grinned at her and grabbed the hand that wasn't holding my shirt to her head. I rubbed soothing circles with my thumb on her soft, delicate fingers. She went limp in my arm, and I deduced that she had passed out.

"Damn, Jake," Quil said. "You've got it bad for her."

"Yeah," I sighed, not even bothering to deny it; it was true. I loved Bella Swan more than anything...and she had no idea.

"When are you gonna tell her, man?" Embry asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "I mean, what if she doesn't feel the same way? It would ruin our friendship forever. I would rather be her friend than nothing at all."

Charlie walked over to us and said, "Dr. Cullen will be with her in five minutes. He just has to wrap up with another patient."

We all nodded our heads as he sat down next to us. We sat in silence and watched the news.

"Bella Swan?" a blonde-haired man called out to the waiting room.

We all got up and walked towards the man. We followed him to a room where a bronze haired guy was sitting and placed Bella on the cot.

"I'm Dr. Cullen," the blonde-haired man told us, "and over there is my assistant, Edward." Edward nodded his head in recognition.

"So what happened here?" Dr. Cullen asked as he removed my shirt from Bella's head.

"We were all hanging out in my garage," I told him. "Bella gave Quil a shaken up can and he chased her around the yard. She tripped on some of the roots by the tree. I gave her my shirt to stop the blood flow. She was getting dizzy before she passed out."

Dr. Cullen nodded as I told him what happened. He looked at Bella's head and found where she was bleeding.

"Edward," Dr. Cullen said, "can you get the needle and thread? She's going to need stitches."

Edward got up and left the room to get the supplies needed.

"She's going to be all right?" Quil asked.

"Yes," Dr. Cullen said. "She's just lost some blood. I'll get her stitched up and let her rest. I don't think that she's lost enough blood that she's going to need a transfusion."

We all sighed in relief. Edward walked back into the room with the supplies and handed them to Dr. Cullen. He put the thread in the needle and walked over to Bella and started sewing her head.

"Okay, we're all done here," Dr. Cullen announced. "I'm just going to clean her up and then we'll just wait until she comes around."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Cullen, Edward," Charlie said genuinely.

Dr. Cullen and Edward left the room, leaving Quil, Embry, Charlie and me with Bella.

"How long do you think it'll be until she wakes up?" Quil asked.

"She shouldn't be too much longer," Charlie said. "She didn't loose too much blood. Bella just never has done well with blood."

All of us laughed at the truth in that statement. Our laughter must have alerted Bella of our presence because she began to stir slightly.

"Where am I?" she asked when her eyes had finally opened.

"You're in the hospital," I told her. "You fell in my yard and hit your head. Don't get up too quickly; we don't want you to pass out again."

She sat up slowly and looked at all of us. Her eyes lingered on mine and I smiled at her.

"My head feels like shit," Bella said while looking at me.

We laughed while Charlie said, "Bella," in a warning tone. She didn't seem to realize her mistake.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked her.

She nodded her head at me.

"Do you need me to pick you up again?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and got herself off of the cot. She steadied herself and looked at us with a look that said, "I'm fine."

"Let's go," she said. She left the room and we followed her down the hall.


	5. Suprises

**A/N Thank you so much to Bloody Ale and Love-waits-to-be-found for reviewing. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, so thank you!**

**So I'm just going to point out that the New Moon movie was incredibly amazing! In the books, I was always Team Edward, but the movie made me become Team Jacob. I saw the movie 3 times already. I loved it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters...damn. :'(**

BPOV

I woke up to a throbbing pain in my head. I vaguely heard laughter around me and begrudgingly woke up. I started to panic because I didn't recognize where I was.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking at nobody in particular

"You're in the hospital," I heard Jake tell me. I looked at him questioningly because I couldn't remember what I did to need to go to the hospital. Sensing that, Jake told me, "You fell in my yard and hit your head."

I vaguely remembered being chased by someone and falling, but I was too tired to try to remember fully.

"Don't get up too quickly," Jake warned. "We don't want you to pass out again."

I sat up slowly, heeding his warning and looked around at everybody around me. I was surprised to see that Jake, Charlie, Quil, and Embry all came with me to the hospital.

I looked at Jake and said, "My head feels like shit."

Everybody laughed while Charlie quietly reprimanded me for cursing. I decided to ignore it because I was talking to Jake, not Charlie.

"Are you ready to go?" Jake asked me.

I nodded my head at him because I wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as I could; I hated hospitals.

"Do you need me to pick you up again?" he asked jokingly.

I rolled my eyes at him and swung my legs off the side of the cot and got off of it. I had to steady myself, but I was okay. I gave everyone a look so that they wouldn't try to help me; I hated not feeling self-sufficient.

"Let's go," I said before leaving the room and heading down the hall. I heard the others walk behind me. I didn't have a clue where I was going, but I wasn't going to admit that.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" I heard a velvety smooth voice ask me.

I took a look at the man and was stunned by his - there was no other word for it - beauty. He was little over a head taller than me and he looked semi-muscular and was covered in the standard doctor apparel. His face looked like it was sculpted: he had a strong, chiseled jaw, full lips, straight nose and the most brilliantly green eyes I had ever seen that appeared to be full of secrets. His hair looked brown, but I could see some red tints under the florescent lights of the hospital.

"Um, we're just trying to leave?" I said, making it sound like a question. I silently berated myself for not sounding firm in my response.

"Well, the exit is the other way," he said cooly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, taken aback by his cool demeanor. "Thank you."

He gave me a curt not before looking at his charts and walking the other direction.

"Come on, Bells," Jake said with a hard edge in his voice. I couldn't quite understand the edge, but I let him lead me in the other direction. My mind was elsewhere as we walked out of the hospital.

How intriguing that man was! He was undeniably a beautiful creature, but his personality left something to be desired. And yet, with that thought, I felt that he was putting up a front - like he didn't want to let people in. His eyes held secrets and wonder and I couldn't help but want to figure him out.

"Bells, are you okay?" Jake asked me when we got to the cruiser.

"Yeah, my head just hurts," I lied. My preoccupation with the hot doctor was weighing so heavily on my mind that I completely forgot about the pain in my head.

I got in the cruiser with the guys and Charlie. We drove home quietly; at least, I was quiet. My mind was still stuck on the hot doctor.

We pulled into Jake's driveway and we all got out of the car.

"Well, I should probably get going," said Embry.

"Yeah, same here," agreed Quil. "I'm so sorry about your head, Bella."

"It's fine," I said. "The four of us need to hang out again sometime soon."

"Yeah," the boys said. "See ya."

They walked away from us, leaving me, Jake, and Charlie standing awkardly in the driveway.

"We should probably get inside and tell Billy that you're okay," Charlie said.

We all walked inside the small house. Billy rolled up to us and looked at us expectantly.

"She's fine," Charlie told him," she just needed some stitches."

"Well, I'm glad she's okay," Billy said.

"I'm right here, you know..." I pointed out; they were talking about me like I wasn't there.

"How are you feeling, Bells?" Billy asked.

"Really tired, actually," I said with a huge yawn. Jake wrapped his arms around my waist and placed a kiss on my neck.

"Well maybe we should go home," Charlie said. "We can come down here again tomorrow."

"That would be awesome!" I said gratefully. "I'm just going to say goodbye to Jake outside."

Jake unwrapped his arms and grabbed my hand as we walked outside. When we reached the cruiser, he let go of my hand and pushed my back against the cruiser and kissed me. I moaned at this new side of Jake - it was hot. His arms wrapped themselves around my waist, pulling my body closer to him. My fingers weaved their way into his hair and he groaned quietly into my mouth. His tongue gently opened my mouth and our tongues caressed each other. We only pulled away from each other when we couldn't breathe.

"What are we, Jake?" I asked when I finally caught my breath.

"Well what do you want to be?" he asked me.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that friends don't kiss the way that we do," I pointed out. "I think we seem more like boyfriend and girlfriend than just friends."

"Then do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked.

"I would love to be your girlfriend, Jake," I said with a smile.

"God, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that," he said before kissing me again. We stopped when we heard a cough. Jake pulled away and I saw Charlie looking at us with his eyebrow raised.

"Um, bye Bells," Jake said before leaving us.

"Sorry, I was just saying goodbye to my boyfriend," I told Charlie with a smile.

"Well it's about time," Charlie said as we got in the cruiser. I looked at him questioningly and he said, "He's liked you for a long time."

"Has he really?" I inquired. I had always known Jake to be very friendly, but I never would have guessed - before today - that he liked me.

"Yeah," Charlie said.

I thought about all the times I had been with Jake. He had never left any obvious hints about him liking me.

We pulled into our driveway where my truck was sitting. We got out of the cruiser and I headed to my room and got in my bed. I was too tired to take off my clothes so stared at the ceiling thinking about how wonderful the day had become.

I fell asleep to thoughts of Jake and the mysterious, hot doctor.


	6. New Friendships and Fun

**A/N Thank you to Bloody Ale for reviewing to last chapter. You make me smile. :D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight; I just play with its characters and make them do things that they wouldn't do in the real story.**

BPOV

I woke up the next morning with my head throbbing lightly. My hand unconsciously went to my head and I winced when I hit my stitches. I decided to go downstairs and get some pain killers. I passed Charlie's room and saw that he was still asleep. I went to the kitchen and grabbed some medicine and poured myself a glass of water to chug it down with.

I went back upstairs and decided to check my e-mail. I saw that there was one from Renee asking how I was doing, how I was enjoying Forks, and what I had been doing. I typed my response:

_Hey, Mom. I'm doing pretty well. Forks is actually pretty nice so far, although that might be because I haven't started school yet._

_Yesterday, Charlie and I had breakfast with Billy and Jake and then we went back to their place. Quil and Embry joined us and we all hung out in his garage. I made Quil spill his drink all over himself and he chased me around Jake's house. Of course I managed to trip and cut my head open. I went to the hospital and got my head stitched up. We're planning on going back down to La Push today, so that'll be fun._

_I'll make sure that I tell you all about my first day of school. Ugh. I hope that things are going well with you and Phil. I miss you guys and I love you so much._

_~Bella_

I decided to leave out the hot doctor and Jake asking me to be his girlfriend. Renee was never one to encourage romantic relationships with the opposite sex. She said that she didn't want me to repeat her mistakes; she wanted me to learn from them. I just hoped that Charlie wouldn't tell her about Jake.

After I sent the e-mail, I decided to take a shower. I let the hot water relax my muscles and I didn't get out until the water ran cold. I wrapped a towel around my waist and another around my head and walked back to my room. I pulled out a Bullet For My Valentine t-shirt and black skinny jeans and the necessary undergarments from my closet. I quickly dressed myself, leaving the towel on my head.

I walked back to the bathroom and decided to blow dry my hair to make it straight. It took longer to make it straight because I had a natural wave in my hair, but it always looked nice. When I was finished with my hair, I put on my usual black eyeliner. I brushed my teeth and then walked downstairs.

Charlie was sitting in the living room watching SportsCenter, which didn't surprise me very much; that man was addicted to sports.

"Morning, Bells," Charlie said when he saw me.

"Morning, Dad," I said and I internally praised myself for not accidently calling him Charlie. "So when are we going down to La Push?"

"I'll have to call Billy to see what time he wants us to be there," Charlie told me. "Are you hungry at all?"

"Not really," I said honestly. "Do you want me to call Billy for you?"

"That would be great," he answered. "Thanks Bells."

I nodded and walked over to the phone. I dialed the familar number and waited anxiously for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" Jake's voice asked.

"Hey Jake, it's Bella," I said with a smile.

"Hey Bells," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice, too. "What's up?"

"We were just wondering when you wanted us down there," I told him.

"Let me ask Billy," he said. "Hang on a sec."

I heard him set the phone down and a few minutes later I heard him pick it up again.

"Billy says whenever you guys want to come over is great," he told me.

"Okay, we'll be over there around eleven," I said. "I'll see you then."

"See ya, Bella!" Jake said enthusiastically.

I hung up the phone and walked back to Charlie, who was still watching the television.

"I told them that we'd be over around eleven," I informed Charlie. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's great, Bella," Charlie said.

"In the meantime, I'm going to go to the grocery store," I told him. "We are seriously lacking food around here."

Charlie pulled out his wallet and handed me some money.

"For the food," he said as he handed me the money.

"Of course," I said. "I'll see you soon."

I put the money in my pocket and left the house. I got in my truck and jumped at the loud engine. I laughed at myself and pulled out of the driveway.

The grocery store wasn't too far from our house which was nice. I got out of the truck and walked into the grocery store. I grabbed a cart and made my way through the isles. I grabbed the food necessities and put them in the cart. As I turned my cart down the chip isle I froze. Standing in front of me was the hot doctor from the hospital with a beautiful, short girl with short black hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed in a way that accentuated her curves and her tiny waist. She was almost more beautiful than the hot doctor - _almost_.

I started panicking. I didn't know what to do; I couldn't even remember my own name. I was stunned again by his beauty, which was accentuated by a tight green sweater that matched his eyes and dark jeans.

"Isabella Swan?" I heard the short girl's voice ask me.

"Yeah?" I asked shyly. I was sort of freaked out that she knew my name because I had no idea who she was.

"I'm Alice Cullen," she introduced, "and this is my brother, Edward. You're going to Forks High, right?"

"It's Bella, actually," I told her, "and yeah, I start tomorrow."

"Oh that's cool," she said. "What grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior," I said.

"Awesome," she said with a smile. "Maybe we'll have some classes together. Edward over here is in college, the lucky bastard."

I found myself giggling with her. I had almost forgotten about the hot doctor - I mean Edward - during our conversation. I was strangely at ease with Alice, something that I wasn't used to.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," she said with a wave.

"Yeah, bye Alice," I said.

I let out a breath that I didn't even know that I was holding in. That was easily the strangest thing that had ever happened to me, and there had been _a lot_ of strange things that had happened to me. I shook my head and grabbed the chips that I came down the isle for.

I finished my shopping and went up to the check-out line. I saw a big male with curly black hair and brown eyes at the counter. He looked really intimidating because he was _very_ muscular, and I felt myself shrinking closer to my cart. I put my items on the table without looking at the guy.

"Are you Isabella Swan?" he asked me while scanning my items.

I begrudgingly looked up at him and saw that he had a smile on his face and he had adorable dimples. _How strange_.

"Yeah," I told him.

"My sister wouldn't shut up about you when I checked her items out a few minutes ago," he informed me.

I blushed at his words; I had no idea that I had made such an impression on her.

"Yeah," he continued. "She was going on about how you two were going to be best friends."

I didn't know how it was possible, but I blushed even further at his words.

"Wow," I said. I wasn't sure what one was supposed to say after something like that.

"Yeah, that's Alice for you," he said. "I'm Emmett by the way, her twin brother."

I felt my jaw drop as I thought of the two of them being twins. Alice was short and tiny; Emmett was tall and huge. It just seemed completely illogical.

I heard him laugh and say, "We get that kind of reaction all the time."

He finished bagging up the items and put them in my cart.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," he said with a smile. I returned the smile and headed out of the grocery store.

I had changed my mind; _that_ was the strangest thing that had happened to me. Ever.

I put the bags in the truck with me because I was afraid that the items would fly out onto the highway. I would have to invest in a cap for the back of the truck. I pulled into the driveway, grabbed the groceries, and walked inside the house.

"I'm back," I announced while closing the door.

"Hey Bells," Charlie said. "How was your trip?"

"It was very interesting," I said. "I met the Cullens."

"I am forever thankful for Dr. Cullen and the one son - what was his name? Edwin? I don't know, but they were the ones to fix you up yesterday," he told me.

"Really?" I had asked. _Edward_ didn't seem like he recognized me. "I wish I had known that when I saw them. I'll have to make a mental note to thank Alice tomorrow."

I left to go put the groceries away in the kitchen. The Cullens weighed heavily on my mind as I put the groceries away. I was now able to put a name to the face which was nice - I felt very silly thinking of him as the hot doctor. I actually liked Alice a lot, and Emmett didn't act as scary as he looked; he seemed pretty nice. But I couldn't understand why Edward was the way he was and that frustrated me to no end! I tried to understand why his siblings were so nice and friendly while he was so elusive. It just didn't add up. Something was wrong with him - and I was determined to find out what it was.

"Hey Bella," Charlie called from the living room. "We should probably leave to go to La Push soon."

I had completely forgotten about La Push because of the Cullens. I shook my head, hoping to clear it of its speculations. I walked back to the living room where Charlie was starting to get up.

"Do you want to grab a snack before we go?" Charlie asked.

"That's probably a good idea," I said.

I went back into the kitchen and grabbed myself a banana. I walked back to the living room.

"Okay, let's go," I told him.

We left the house and got in the police cruiser again. I really hated riding in the cruiser, but Charlie - although he would never admit it - was afraid of my truck. I couldn't understand his apprehension about it; a tank could run over it and it would be fine. My truck was unstoppable.

We pulled into Billy's driveway where they were waiting for us. I got out of the car and was immediately engulfed into a huge hug.

"Can't...breathe," I managed to get out.

"I'm sorry," I heard Jake say. "I just missed you."

"I missed you, too," I told him once I could finally see him. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that showed off his muscles and jeans.

"So what do you wanna do?" he asked me.

"Wanna hang out in the garage?" I asked.

"Sure," he said while grabbing my hand. We walked towards the garage with huge smiles on our faces. Things were just so uncomplicated with Jake.

Jake got in the driver's seat of the Rabbit and I sat in the passenger seat. The seats were very comfortable and I reclined mine more so I could relax.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow?" Jake asked conversationally.

"Definately," I said, being more truthful than he realized. "Although I met the Cullens today, so I won't be _completely_ alone."

"Are you talking about that Edward guy?" he asked, a slight edge in his voice.

"Yeah," I said. "You don't like him?"

Jake sighed and said, "There's something about that guy that just rubs me the wrong way. I mean, I'm thankful for him helping you with your head, but he was such an asshole to you when we got lost at the hospital. I just don't like him very much."

"Well, luckily, he is in college, so I won't see him," I said, and I hoped that Jake wouldn't hear the disappointment in my voice. "His brother Emmett and his sister Alice, however, are both seniors. I think you'd like them a lot."

"Well that's good," Jake said while nodding. "Maybe I'll get to meet them sometime."

"Maybe," I said.

We continued talking about whatever popped into our minds. We stopped when our stomachs were growling. We walked inside his house where Billy and Charlie were watching the Cleveland Browns play the Pitsburg Steelers. I didn't understand much about football, so I ignored the game. We walked into their kitchen and made ourselves some sandwiches and walked back to the garage. We ate our sandwiches silently because we were both hungrier than we thought we were.

"Do you want to go to First Beach?" Jake asked when we were done with our sandwiches.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said.

First Beach was close enough to Jake's house that we decided to walk there. We held hands the whole way there. When we go there, I gasped at its beauty; I had forgotten how beautiful First Beach was.

When I would visit, we used to come up to the beach all the time and sit on the rocks and watch the waves. It always allowed me to think clearer. We also used to go to the little playground by the water and swing on the swings. I was suddenly overwhelmed with desire to swing again; it'd been a long time.

"I know this sounds like a stupid idea, but do you want to swing?" I asked Jake.

"I don't think that's a stupid idea," he told me. "Let's go."

We walked over to the swing set where a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was watching us in wonder. I got on my swing and immediately started swinging myself back and forth. I held on to the swing for dear life as I swung higher and higher. Jake got on his swing, too, and watched my face as it lit up with happiness.

"I feel like a younger version of myself right now," I confessed to Jake. "So carefree; like there are no problems in the world."

"I'm glad," he said, smiling with me.

We stayed on the swings until our butts started hurting. We joked around that we were getting old because we couldn't stay on a swing for more than an hour.

"Well how old does that make us?" I asked him.

"Hm, well, I've got to be at least thirty," he informed me. "You are about twenty-three."

"Twenty three?!" I exclaimed. "How in the world does that work out?"

"Well, you're really short, so I had to bump you down a few years," he told me. "I started us both at twenty-five. I am about a foot taller than you, so I added 5 years to my age."

"But that's so unfair!" I said. "Five foot four is not short; it's completely average. It's not my fault that you're a freak."

We laughed and continued to debate our ages. Neither one of us were conceding, so we dropped it. We decided to sit on the rocks and look at the waves. Jake sat down and I layed down and put my head in his lap. He stroked my hair absently while he stared out at the waves. It was silent except for the waves, and I was insanely curious as to what he was thinking.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him, unable to hide the curiousity in my voice.

"I'm thinking about how I got so damn lucky," he told me. "I've never been a lucky person and yet, somehow, I managed to get you. What is it about me that you like so much?"

Part of me wondered where that all came from, but I focused more on answering his question. "Well, I like that you've always been there for me - since we were little. I like that you accept who I am and don't try to change me. I like that I'm always in a good mood when I see you, because you make me happy. And it doesn't hurt that you're sort of beautiful, too."

Without warning, Jake adjusted me so that I was facing him and he kissed me. We kept our eyes opened, and I could see that he was trying to communicate something with his eyes. I decided to ignore it and keep kissing him; I _really_ liked kissing him. We broke away after a while, panting.

"You have no idea what that means to me," he told me once his breathing steadied.

"We should probably head back soon," I said while looking at the sky. Somehow, it was starting to get dark.

"Yeah, Billy and Charlie are probably worried about us," he said.

We both got up and stretched hugely. I was sure that we looked stupid; I felt stupid. But that feeling went away when he grabbed my hand. We walked back to his house where Billy and Charlie were sitting and talking.

"It's about time you kids got back," Charlie said. "We were getting worried about you."

"Sorry, Dad," I said. "We just lost track of time at the beach."

"Well next time, tell us before you go," Charlie told me. "We didn't know where you were."

"Sorry," we said in unison.

"Well, let's get going, Bells," Charlie said. "You've got a big day tomorrow."

"Ugh, please don't remind me," I begged him. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I thought about that.

I hugged Jake goodbye and we left his house. We got in the cruiser and waved to Jake and Billy as we pulled out of their driveway. We drove home silently, both of our minds preoccupied. We pulled into our driveway and got out.

"I'm heading to bed," I told Charlie. I felt exhausted.

"Okay, good night, Bella," he said.

"Good night, Dad," I replied.

I went upstairs and changed into a large t-shirt and pj bottoms. They weren't the most attractive things, but they were really comfortable, and it wasn't like anybody but me or Charlie were going to see them. I got in my bed and squirmed around until I found a comfortable position. I let my mind wander to how strange yet wonderful today was. I was actually excited to see the Cullens tomorrow, even though their brother was driving me insane with curiousity.

It didn't take me long to succumb to sleep.


	7. The First Day of School

**A/N Thank you to OhSoRadical. Bloody Ale and luver of all fall out boy for reviewing to last chapter. It really makes me happy that people like this story; I actually like writing it more than TCS, although I love that story too.**

**So for Bella's teachers, I used some teachers that I've had in my school career. It was a kind of blast from the past for me and I hope that you guys enjoy them as much as I have.**

**Disclaimer: wilightTay isay otnay inemay. (That's "Twilight isn't mine" in Pig Latin for those who don't know that. I feel like I'm in the third grade again...)**

BPOV

My alarm clock woke me up at the obnoxious time of 6:15 in the morning. I couldn't understand why any human being would want to wake up at that time, but I was too tired to think about it to thoroughly. I groggily got out of bed and went to the shower, hoping that the water would wake me up. I turned the water on and jumped when it was colder than I expected. I hastily turned the nob to the left only to jump again when the water burned my hand.

"Today's not my day," I said to myself.

I finally got the water to an acceptable temperature and got in. I washed my hair and body and decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to shave while I was in there. I got out of the shower when the water started getting cold; I didn't like cold very much. I wrapped a towel around my waist and one around my head and walked into my bedroom to find an outfit.

I decided that, although I didn't really care what these people thought, I would try to make a good first impression. I grabbed a plain black t-shirt that had a slight v-neck and skinny jeans. I decided to go with a simple black bra and panty set that Renee got me for my birthday last year. I put my clothes on and freaked out when I saw that the time said 7 am; school started at 7:45 and I still hadn't done anything to my hair.

I walked back to the bathroom and decided that it was too much of a hastle to blow dry my hair to make it straight, so I let it do its natural wave. I brushed my teeth and put on my black eyeliner. I looked at my nails and realized that I would have to re-paint them soon - they were starting to look bad.

I ran downstairs and grabbed a banana so that I would have something in my stomach before school. I put on my shoes and grabbed my bag and throwing it over my shoulder. I left the house and ran to my truck. Once again, I jumped when I turned it on and I wondered how long it would take for that to not happen. I drove to the school and was surprised to see how small it was. There were seven buildings that were made out of brick. Each building had a number on it, one through seven. I parked in the parking lot and walked to the first building hoping that it was the office building. Sitting at a desk was an elderly looking lady who looked very kind.

"Isabella Swan?" she asked me when she heard me come in.

"It's Bella," I told her, and I had a feeling that I would be saying that a lot today.

She handed me a map of the school and a schedule of my classes. Renee faxed over the classes that I was taking in Phoenix and the school tried accommodate as well as they could. Some of the classes that I was taking as AP in Phoenix weren't available here, so I had to take them in the regular classes. My schedule was:

1st Period: Advanced Composition with Mrs. Gay (7:45 - 8:35)

2nd Period: AP Spanish with Mrs. Daiga (8:40 - 9:30)

3rd Period: Calculus with Mrs. Wallace (9:35 - 10:25)

4th Period: Senior Lunch (10:30 - 11:15)

5th Period: Symphonic Choir with Mr. Parsons (11:20 - 12:10)

6th Period: Biology Mr. Young (12:15 - 1:10)

7th: Period: Government with Mrs. Advent (1:15 - 2:10)

8th Period: Yoga with Mrs. Martin (2:15 - 3:05)

I had no idea who any of my teachers were and I hoped that I had good teachers. I loved the teachers who pushed their students as far as they could go, but I always got stuck with the bad teachers who shouldn't be teaching. I thanked the woman and headed towards my first class, Advanced Composition.

I entered the classroom and was happy to find that it was a relatively small class. I walked over to the teacher and asked her where I should sit. She told me to sit by Ben - like I knew who he was. I would have asked her who he was, but she was staring absently at her desk after sending me away. I walked over to a guy with shaggy blonde hair and asked him if he was Ben.

"No, my name is Jasper," the boy said with a slight Southern twang. "Ben is over on the other side of the table."

I thanked him and walked over to the boy that he pointed me to. He looked up at me and smiled politely.

"You must be the new girl, Isabella," he said.

"It's Bella, actually," I said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," he said. "So what's your schedule like?"

I handed him my schedule and he looked over it, nodding at the teachers.

"Okay, first thing you gotta know about Daiga," he informed me. "She will kick your ass if you don't do your work. She's a good teacher although she kinda reminds me of my grandmother...Wallace thinks that she's funny even though she's really not. Laugh at her jokes and you'll be as good as gold. Parsons is another strict teacher, but he knows what he's doing. We've had one of the best choirs in the state because of him. Young wears the same pants every day and he's really awkward. He doesn't do much teaching, so I usually bring a book or something to occupy myself. Advent is seriously bipolar; she once yelled at a kid because he was texting and then started talking about how she met her husband on eHarmony. Martin has an unhealthy obsession with the movie Grease, so if you mention anything about it, she'll love you forever."

"Thank you so much," I said genuinely. Ben seemed like a cool guy and I was glad to have him in my class.

"No problem," he said.

We talked lightly for the rest of the period until the bell rang. I walked to my AP Spanish class alone; he had Chemistry. When I walked in the classroom, I was pleased to find that it was also a small class. I walked up to the teacher and she told me I could choose where I sat. I sat next to a girl with curly brown hair.

"I'm Jessica," she said with a fake smile. I noticed that her eyes looked glossy and she had way too much perfume on.

"I'm Bella," I said, returning her smile half-heartedly.

The teacher started teaching, so I didn't have to talk to her anymore which made me glad; I hated fake people and that girl had fake written all over her. I was glad to know that they were a little behind where we were in Phoenix, so I wouldn't have to try too hard in that class for a little while. I vaguely wondered if I could ask Renee to send over my old binders; I didn't think about bringing them.

The bell rang and I started heading towards my calculus class. Unfortunately for me, Jessica also had calculus, so she walked me to class. She wouldn't shut up the whole way there and that got seriously annoying. I walked up to the teacher who was sitting at her desk. She told me to sit by Jessica and I barely repressed my groan. Jessica was smiling and led me to the middle of the classroom and made me sit next to her. I sat down and looked ahead but I felt her eyes on me. Her gaze was making me uncomfortable and I could feel my face heat up. I tried to concentrate on Mrs. Wallace, but there was only so much math I could take.

"Come sit with me at lunch," Jessica said after the bell rang.

"Um, Alice wanted me to sit with her," I said, not even trying to sound remorseful as I gathered my things.

"Alice Cullen?" she asked with a sneer as she started walking out of the classroom.

"Yeah," I said a little defensively. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"Um, yeah!" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's a _freak_, Bella. Her and her little boyfriend Jasper and his twin sister Rosalie and her boyfriend Emmett are the biggest freaks in the entire school."

My brows furrowed in confusion because both Alice and Jasper were both beautiful people and they seemed very nice to me. I liked them both and I couldn't understand why people thought they were freaks.

"Why, though?" I thought aloud.

"Well, Alice and her brothers Emmett and Edward moved down here a few years ago," she informed me. "They seemed pretty cool at first and were nice and very rich. Then they started hanging out with Rosalie and Jasper. Rumor has it that Jasper is a drug dealer and Rosalie is a coke whore. Anyway, they started hanging out with them and they started to change. They stopped talking to everybody except for Jasper and Rosalie. It was so bizarre, Bella, you don't even know."

I was shocked to hear Edward's name included in the group; he helped me when I was in the hospital. It added to my already intense curiosity about him. We walked to the cafeteria in silence while I let the information process through my head. I spotted Alice sitting at a table with a gorgeous blonde and Jasper and Emmett. When she spotted me she waved enthusiastically but then frowned when she saw who I was standing with. She muttered something to the table and then walked over to me.

"Hi Bella," she said, completely ignoring Jessica. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. I decided I was going to find out if the rumors were true about them. That and I wanted to figure Edward out.

I allowed Alice to lead me to the table. I set my bag on the ground and sat at the table with them.

"Guys, this is Bella," Alice announced to the table. "Emmett, you already know her, of course."

He smiled in recognition and waved at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

"This is the love of my life, Jasper," she said as she stood behind her boyfriend.

He smiled at me and said, "You're in my advanced comp class. It's nice to actually meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," I said while shaking his hand.

"And this is Jasper's gorgeous sister Rosalie," she informed me.

I could feel her measuring me up. I bit my lip and felt self-conscious as she continued eying me.

"She's cool," Rosalie finally said and gave me a half-smile. I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in and returned her smile.

"Who's hungry?" I asked the table.

"ME!" Emmett said enthusiastically. I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. We got out of our chairs and walked towards the cafeteria.

"So how are you liking Forks?" Emmett asked conversationally.

"It's very interesting so far," I said. "The people here are very different than they are in Phoenix."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked.

"I think so," I told him. "I'll have to get back to you on that one."

Emmett laughed and declared that I was going to fit in quite nicely with his lunch table. We grabbed our food, paid for it, and walked back to the table. I didn't hesitate in eating my salad because I was starving.

"So what are your other classes, Bella?" Alice asked me.

"Next period I have Symphonic Choir with Parsons. Then I have Biology with Young. Then I have Government with Advent. My last class is Yoga with Martin. Do I have any classes with any of you guys?" I asked.

"You have choir and yoga with me," Alice informed me.

"You have bio with me," Jasper said.

"You have gov and yoga with me," Emmett told me.

"You have choir, gov and yoga with me," Rosalie said.

I smiled because I was glad that I was going to have classes with people I knew.

"So what are the rumors you've heard about us?" Rosalie said bluntly.

"Um, I haven't heard anything," I lied. I didn't want to tell them what Jessica told me because it was mean and I actually liked them.

"Stop lying," Alice said. "I know you've heard something; tell us."

I felt my eyes widen as she called me out on my lie.

"Never bet against the Alice," she said with a smile.

"Okay," I said. I looked at the table while I continued. "I don't believe any of it, but Jessica said that you all are on drugs and that Rosalie is a crack whore."

I braced myself for their reaction. What I didn't expect was for them to start cracking up. I looked up hesitantly and saw that everybody was laughing at me.

"You're not mad?" I asked.

"Are you kidding, Bella?" Emmett asked. "That's fucking hilarious!"

"Bella, _Jessica _is the crack whore," Alice told me. "She and her little Rosalie wannabe Lauren have slept with 80% of Forks male population and they smoke with Mike and Tyler all the time."

"Huh," I said. "I guess that explains why her eyes were all glossy and why she had so much of that reeking perfume on."

Everybody started cracking up again and I joined them. We continued talking until the period ended. Rosalie and Alice walked over to me and we walked to choir together.

The choir room was a large room with risers around a large piano. The back wall was nothing but mirrors. Mr. Parsons was sitting at the piano shuffling through the music. I introduced myself and he told me to sit wherever I wanted because they sung in shotgun formation. He told me that I should come in during my lunch the next day and do my singing audition. I went to go sit by Alice because I knew her better. The choir started singing a song called "Lux Aurumque" and it gave me chills. (**A/N It really is a hauntingly beautiful song. You should look it up on youtube; you'll get goosebumps**)

When the period ended I headed to Biology alone. When I got there I noticed that the spot next to Jasper was empty. _Apparently everybody believes that they're freaks_. I introduced myself to Mr. Young and he told me to sit wherever I wanted. I walked over to Jasper, feeling the eyes of the other students behind me.

"Hey Bella," Jasper said as I sat next to him.

"Hey Jasper," I said.

"Get a piece of paper out," Jasper told me.

I reached in my bag and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and set it on the desk. Jasper grabbed a pen out of his bag and grabbed my paper.

(**A/N Jasper is underlined and Bella is normal**)

We don't do anything in this class. I figured I would save you from the boredom of sitting here doing nothing.

Thanks. Ben in our Advanced Comp class warned me about the teacher.

Yeah he's weird but he helped me remember the quadratic formula freshman year. He made a song about it.

That _is _weird but I bet that helped a lot.

It really did. So how are you liking Forks High so far?

It's very different from Phoenix, but I think I like it. The people are so different here. In Phoenix people usually just ignored me but here it's impossible not to be noticed.

I know what you mean. Everybody in this town knows everybody because nothing new ever happens here. I can only imagine how awkward it must be for you being here.

It's incredibly awkward. I don't do too well with having attention on me. It's very uncomfortable for me.

I'm sorry about that. Well, hopefully the hype about you will die down soon and you won't have to deal with it anymore.

But I'm hanging out with "the freaks of Forks" though. Speaking of which, why does everybody think that about you guys?

I'm not really sure how it all started actually. A lot of girls are jealous of Rose so they talk shit about her so I'd have to imagine that's where it all started. Rose and I never fit in with the other generic people of Forks so we stuck together. When Edward, Emmett and my Alice moved here they just fit in with us perfectly. They hated how everybody wanted to be their friends because they were beautiful and had a lot of money. I found that Alice was like the missing part of me that I never knew was missing and we were just perfect together. Rose and Em ended up having a similar connection to Alice and me. We always felt bad that Edward had to be the fifth wheel but he never complained about it. Admittedly, Edward was never one to show his emotions, but that's a different story for a different time.

Wow. That sucks that you guys have to deal with that every single day. You guys are stronger than I would be.

Well, we have each other and that makes it worth it. I honestly couldn't be happier with how my life is and I wouldn't change it for the world.

The bell rang and I grabbed the piece of paper and shoved it in my bag along with my pencil. I thanked Jasper for talking to me and being honest with me. I knew that Jasper was going to be a great friend; he had a very relaxing nature.

I walked to government apprehensively. Mrs. Advent was the teacher I was the most afraid of based on what I had heard about her. I walked to her room and walked up to her desk. She told me to sit at the open desk that was next to Emmett in the far back.

"Hey Bella," Emmett said as I sat next to him. Rosalie was sitting on his other side.

"Hey Emmett," I said. "Hey Rosalie."

We stayed quiet while Mrs. Advent taught. They weren't learning anything that I didn't already know; I was taking AP Government in Phoenix so we were really ahead of them. However, I diligently wrote my notes as the teacher said them.

When the bell rang, I walked with Rosalie and Emmett to yoga. They held hands the entire way and I couldn't help thinking how cute they were together. I was glad that most of my new friends were going to be in the class. Alice met us at the door and we all walked in together. While they went to go change their clothes, I walked up to the teacher. She told me that I didn't need to do anything today, but I needed to pay attention to what they were doing. She told me that I needed some clothes to change into daily because it was part of the grade. I went and sat on the floor by the door and watched people walk in.

The class went by faster than I expected. I could help but laugh at Emmett twisting his body into the positions they were doing. He tried, that was obvious, but his huge body didn't seem capable of doing it. He instead watched Rosalie do the positions and I could tell that he was loving it. I didn't want to think of their love lives, but it was still funny to watch him standing there with his jaw slack staring at Rosalie like she was God or something.

I was very happy when the final bell rang. The day was absolutely exhausting and I couldn't wait to get home. After everybody changed, I walked with Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie to the parking lot.

"We should hang out sometime," Alice said enthusiastically while we walked.

"I'm sure Charlie would be okay with that," I said. "When do you want to hang out?"

"I don't know yet," she told me. "Give me your cell and I'll put our numbers in it and we can figure it out."

"Okay," I said while handing her my phone. When she handed it back to me I realized that there were five new numbers in it.

"I gave you mine, Emmett's, Rosalie's, Jasper's, and Edward's phone number," she told me. "That way you can always get a hold of us."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

They said their goodbyes and I walked to my truck. I threw my bag in the passenger side and drove home. I parked in the driveway and walked to the door. I decided to go upstairs and take a nap because I was exhausted. I laid on my bed and thought about my crazy day.

Maybe Forks wouldn't be so bad after all.


	8. Stop Thinking About Edward

**A/N Thank you to OhSoRadical. and Bloody Ale for reviewing to last chapter. You guys are freaking amazing! :D**

**So this part of the chapter should have been added to last chapter, but for some reason I didn't do it. I'm not really sure why I did it though...oh well. I hope you enjoy it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. (I'm too lazy to come up with something original.)**

BPOV

I woke up from my nap and decided to start making dinner for Charlie and me. I started making Jambalaya because it was not difficult to make and it was very tasty. I hoped that Charlie would like it; Renee loved it when I made it. I grabbed the sausage and rice and started to cook it. While cooking I let my mind wander.

I couldn't stop thinking about Edward and that made me feel guilty because it wasn't fair to Jake, but I couldn't help but be curious about him. It didn't help that his was the brother of two of my new friends. I wondered if I would still be so obsessed with him if he weren't still a part of my life, if I would have forgotten about him over time. I didn't want to think about that, so I changed my train of thought.

I really liked the group of people that I sat with at lunch and that surprised me; I'd never fit in with people very well. I really liked that Alice was a little bundle of energy and happiness and that Jasper was very calm and soothing. I liked that Emmett was incredibly cool and not as intimidating as he looked and I hoped that it would be the same for Rosalie. I didn't know much about her and I didn't interact with her very much.

I finished cooking the food and put it on two plates because I knew that Charlie would be home soon. I poured us each a glass of milk and waited for him to come home. Surely enough, he showed up not ten minutes after I made dinner.

"Hey Bella," he said while taking off his Sheriff's jacket.

"Hey Dad," I said. "I have dinner ready if you're ready to eat."

"Awesome," he said with a smile, "because I'm hungry!"

I laughed and we walked to the dining room table. We ate the food in comfortable silence and my mind kept going back to Edward. I just couldn't get him out of my head.

"So how was school?" Charlie asked, trying to start conversation.

"It was pretty good," I said honestly. "I met some really cool kids and I like my classes."

"That's good," Charlie mumbled and the conversation was dropped. Charlie and I weren't people who needed constant chatter.

I grabbed our plates when we were done and rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher. I told him that I wanted to go back upstairs to read and he let me go without a fight. I went upstairs and grabbed my bag that I had thrown on the ground before my nap and looked for the note that Jasper and I wrote in Biology. I re-read it and my eyes jumped to something that Jasper had written:

Admittedly, Edward was never one to show his emotions, but that's a different story for a different time.

What was _that_ supposed to mean? I thought back to the first time that I had met Edward and remembered his cool demeanor. I thought about when I saw him at the grocery store with Alice and realized that he didn't show any emotion there either. That intrigued me even more, if that was even possible. He was like a puzzle that I was dying to put together, but there was no picture on the box to show what the puzzle was supposed to look like. Why did he never show emotion? Was he always that way?

I suddenly felt chagrin wash over me; I was being very nosy and I had no right to be that way. He was nothing to me and I needed to stop trying to make him into something. I was with Jake and I owed it to him to focus my time and energy on _him_, not Edward. What kind of girlfriend was I? I was letting some random guy occupy my thoughts and that really wasn't fair to him. I pushed Edward out of my mind and thought about Jacob.

Jake had always been such a happy person while growing up. Even when his mother was killed in a car accident he stayed upbeat and optimistic. I knew that deep down he was angry about it, but that was because I knew him so well. He was also such a selfless person and I had always admired that about him. When I hit my head at his house, he gave me his shirt to stop the blood flow, he came with me to the hospital, and he cared for me while I was disorientated; he was truely a wonderful person. He was very attractive and caring and I knew that I didn't deserve him - he could do so much better than me - but for some reason he wanted me.

My phone started ringing and it startled me out of my thoughts. I answered the phone without looking at the number.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Bella!" a voice said enthusiastically. "It's Alice!"

"Hey Alice," I said with a laugh. Alice really was a bundle of energy. "What's up?"

"Not much," she said. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come over after school tomorrow. I asked my mom and she said that it would be all right."

"Actually that would be cool," I told her honestly. "I'd like that a lot."

"Awesome! I can't wait," she told me. "There is so many things that we can do! I'm so excited!"

"I can tell," I said while laughing. "If it helps, I'm excited, too."

"Yay!" she said and I could hear her clap her hands together. "So I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Okay," I said. "See ya."

"See ya," she said and disconnected the phone.

I really was excited to hang out with Alice tomorrow. For one thing, I really liked her, but part of me was hoping to see Edward there. I mentally scolded myself for thinking that because I told myself that I was going to stop thinking about him, but it was so difficult to do! I decided that writing an e-mail to Renee would be a good thing to take my mind off of him. I walked over to the computer and waited for it to power up.

_Hey, Mom. Well, I promised you that I would tell you all about the first day of school, so here I go._

_The school is a lot smaller than the one in Phoenix and it doesn't offer as many classes, so I've had to take some classes in the normal class. Speaking of which, can you send my old binders over, or would that be considered cheating? I did technically do all of the work, so I would only be cheating off of myself..._

_The kids at school are actually pretty cool. I sit with a group of really cool kids at lunch and they are becoming fast friends. I'm actually going to hang out with Alice, one of the people, tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. You would absolutely adore her; she's just a little ball of energy and she's just a happy person. I think that they are going to be good people for me to have in my life._

_So how's life in Phoenix? Anything special going on there now that I'm gone?_

_I love you and I miss you. I promise to call you on Friday. I'm exhausted and I think that I'm going to go to bed._

_~Bella_

Satisfied with my e-mail, I sent it and turned off the computer. I decided to take a shower before I went to bed because I didn't want to have to worry about my hair like I had to this morning. I grabbed my pj's and walked to the shower. I washed my hair and body and got out. I brushed by teeth and hair and changed into my pj's before leaving the bathroom. I crawled into bed and waited for sleep to come and take me.

It didn't take too long.


	9. The Cullen House

**A/N Thank you to Bloody Ale and OhSoRadical. for reviewing to last chapter. I am fairly positive you guys already know how awesome you are, but I'm just going to tell you guys anyway: YOU ROCK! :D**

**Disclaimer: Although I love the Twilight series a lot, I was not the brilliant mastermind behind it.**

BPOV

My alarm woke me up again at 6:15 in the morning and I groaned. I knew getting used to waking up so early was going to take time but this was just crazy. I sucked it up and got out of bed to take a shower. The shower was relatively quick and I ran to my room because it was really cold. _Get used to it, Bella._

I kept my towels on as I looked through my closet for something to wear. I figured that, since I had made an effort to look generic like I thought that the people at Forks High would be and people wouldn't leave me the hell alone, I would dress like myself. I was not fake by any stretch of the imagination and I wasn't going to hide who I was. I grabbed a Slipknot t-shirt and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and the necessary undergarments and got dressed. I decided that, since I had a lot of time, I was going to straighten my hair. I walked into the bathroom and plugged in the blow dryer and started blow drying my hair straight. It took a good fourty-five minutes, but it was definately worth it; my hair was smooth and straight.

I grabbed my bag out of my room and walked downstairs and decided to make myself a bacon and cheese omelet. It sounded good and I was really hungry. I got out the ingredients that I needed and started cooking. It smelled so good and I couldn't wait to eat it. I finished cooking the food and put it on a plate and headed to the dining room. I quickly scarfed down the food and rinsed my dishes in the sink.

The drive to school wasn't as nerve-wrecking as it was on the first day. I knew where I was going and I wasn't nervous for anything. I parked next to a very ostentatious convertible and got out of my truck. I walked towards the English building with my bag over my shoulder.

I said hello to Jasper before I walked over to my seat.

"Hey Bella," Ben said as I sat next to him.

"Hey Ben," I said with a smile.

"So how was the first day of school?" he asked conversationally.

"It wasn't too bad," I told him with a smile. "You're suggestions really helped - a lot. Thank you so much for that."

"Anything I can do to help," he said, his own smile forming on his face. "I just wish someone had warned me when _I_ first came here."

We laughed together and stopped when Mrs. Gay told us that we needed to be quiet. Ben started playing games on his computer and I started typing randomly; I wanted to make it _look_ like I was working.

The bell rang and I walked to my Spanish class alone. I was not looking forward to having to deal with Jessica. However, my worrying was completely unnecessary.

"What are you wearing?" she asked me, eyeing me with disgust.

"Um, clothes?" I said a bit sarcastically.

She didn't bother me for the rest of the period nor did she bother me in Calculus. I was completely grateful and I planned on dressing like I normally did from then on. I walked to my lunch table where Jasper and Alice were sitting. Rosalie and Emmett, I assumed, were getting themselves lunch.

"Nice shirt," Jasper said while looking at it. "What is your favorite song?"

I thought about it for a second. "It would have to be between 'Pulse of the Maggots' and 'Psychosocial'," I told him. "It's hard to choose between them."

"We're going to get along just fine, Bella," Jasper said with a smile. I couldn't help but smile back; he accepted me and that was something that I _still_ was not used to.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to do your audition for Mr. Parsons today?" Alice asked me.

"Oh, shit, I totally forgot," I said honestly. It had completely slipped my mind. "I'll be back."

I grabbed my bag and left the cafeteria swiftly. "You sound like the Terminator!" Alice called out as I left. I laughed and continued walking out of the lunchroom.

I walked into Mr. Parsons' office and saw him sitting at a desk stamping "Forks High School" on the sheet music. I knocked gently on the door and he looked up at me.

"Oh, hello Bella," he said. "Thank you for remembering to come today. What part did you usually sing in your old high school?"

"Um, it depended on the song we were singing," I told him. "Mrs. Gil, my old choir director, allowed us to change parts if we wanted to. I can sing both soprano and alto."

"Okay, then I'm just going to test out your range and decide where to put you," he said while getting off of his chair.

We walked over to the piano in the choir room. I normally would have been extremely nervous, but there was something about Mr. Parsons that made me feel oddly comfortable. He played scales and had me sing along with him. I sight read a song and then we were done.

"Well, based on your 'audition', I would say that, although you have a strong upper range, you would make a great first alto," he decided. "We can never have too many altos and I think that your voice will make a great addition to our alto section."

"Thank you, Mr. Parsons," I said. "Is it okay if I still stand next to Alice?"

"That's fine unless you guys talk during my rehearsals," he told me. "I take my rehearsals very seriously and I hope that you will as well. I will get you a singing binder that will have all of the songs that we are singing in it all ready for you before you have choir today."

"Thank you so much," I said with a smile. "I'll see you next period."

I left the choir room and headed back to the cafeteria where everybody was waiting for me.

"So how was your audition?" Alice asked, bouncing slightly in her chair.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," I told her honestly. "Mr. Parsons actually seemed like a cool guy."

"Yeah, he's great," Alice said. "You should probably hurry up and get yourself some lunch. There's not much time left in the period and Parsons doesn't like food in his classroom."

I nodded and went to the lunchroom to get my food. I decided to get a light lunch and hoped that I would be able to have a snack at Alice's house after school. I walked back to the table where Alice and Jasper were staring into each other's eyes. I felt a little invasive watching them, so I just sat at the table and started eating my food. Rosalie and Emmett were still nowhere to be found.

I had a newfound sympathy for Edward. I understood now how he must have felt being surrounded by two couples that were very obviously madly in love with each other. I felt like the third wheel and that was pretty uncomfortable. I could imagine Edward sitting at this exact table - possibly in the same chair that I was sitting in - feeling as uncomfortable as I felt. I decided to clear my throat loudly, hoping that they would be alerted of my presence.

"Are you excited to come over today?" Alice asked as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah definately," I told her. "So are your brothers going to be there?"

"Well, I think that Emmett is going over to Rosalie's today," she informed me. "Edward might be there, but if he is, I wouldn't count on him coming out of his room and being social."

I pondered her words for a minute. "Why not?" I thought aloud.

"Let's just say that Edward is not a very social person," Alice said in a tone that ended the conversation.

I finished my food before the bell rang and Alice and I walked to choir together. I looked around the classroom and noticed that Rosalie wasn't there either. Part of me wondered where she had gone, but I didn't have the chance to ask Alice about it.

I walked to Biology and took my seat next to Jasper. I pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and started writing.

(**A/N Jasper is underlined and Bella is normal**)

Where is Rosalie? She wasn't at lunch nor was she at choir. Is she okay?

She's fine. She and Emmett like to skip school sometimes and spend "quality time" with each other. I'm just thankful that they've gotten over the phase where they were going at it like rabbits in public. That was a very difficult phase of their relationship to endure.

I could imagine that it would be. I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Edward felt like being surrounded by couples. I got a little taste of it today when I left to get my food.

Oh, yeah; sorry about that. Sometimes Alice and I get lost in our own little world. I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable for you.

It wasn't too bad. A little uncomfortable, but it was okay.

So, are you honestly excited about hanging out with Alice after school?

I am, but I'm a little apprehensive about it. I don't know what we're going to do. I can only imagine that it is going to be very girly.

You never know; Alice has never been a very predictable person. For all I know, you guys might be watching WWE and having belching contests. It honestly wouldn't surprise me very much if that happened. Alice is spontaneous.

Wow, I'll keep that in mind then. It's hard for me to imagine little Alice belching; that's like trying to imaging fat man going aneroxic.

Trust me, that girl can belch better and louder than Emmett. I'm sure that Emmett is the one who taught her how to belch so well. Imagine my surprise when we all went to First Beach and Emmett and Alice had a belching contest and Alice won. I think I fell in love with her a little more when I found that out.

That's pretty funny, actually. I think that I might have to see that for myself.

We all have to have a cookout or something and we can show you. I think it would be cool to have the five of us hanging out outside of school.

Yeah definately. I'll text you sometime and we can plan it out.

Sounds like a plan.

The bell rang and I stuffed the note in my bag. I was really thankful that Jasper was in my class; he was a really cool guy and I ended up learning a lot about people through him. Government and Yoga flew by fairly quickly and, before I knew it, school was over. Alice walked over to me and we walked towards the parking lot.

"Okay, make sure that you stay behind me," Alice said. "I'll have my phone though if we get seperated."

I got into my truck and noticed that the ostentatious convertible I had parked next to was gone. I vaguely wondered who owned the car. I drove behind Alice's silver Volvo and we drove to her house. Part of me wondered why she chose the car that she did because it seemed so un-Alice. I noted to ask her when we got to her house. We made it to her house without being seperated which was good.

Her house was absolutely stunning: it was a three story white house that had a very quiet beauty about it. There were two tall doors and windows on each floor. The house was surrounded by trees and flowers and it was absolutely beautiful. The inside, however, was even more beautiful than the outside. The front room was huge - like it used to be several rooms but they had been knocked down - with two staircases leading to the upstairs. The walls were a deep cranberry and the carpet was a creamy color. There was a huge chandelier in the middle of the room giving a very elegant feel to the room.

I walked in silence and awe up to Alice's room. She seemed to understand that I was in awe of her house and didn't say anything. Her bedroom was very Alice-esque; her walls were light pink and her carpet was white. Her queen sized bed was white and had a pink comforter that had a large "Alice" written on it in silver caligraphy. She had two large white dressers against the wall and a huge plasma screen television on her wall. She had a white desk that had a customized macintosh computer and a very comfortable looking white leather chair. Her closed was almost the size of my entire bedroom and it was filled with more clothes than I had ever seen in my life.

"Your house is too incredible to be true," I told Alice.

"You should tell my mother that," Alice said with a smile. "She decorated the place and I know that you would get in her good books if you told her that. So what do you want to do?"

"Why don't we just talk for a while?" I offered.

"Okay," Alice said. "Are there any guys that have caught your eye yet?"

I froze and widened my eyes. _Could she know about me liking her brother? _I decided to give a partial truth.

"Well, there's my boyfriend, Jake," I told said.

"Ooh! Tell me all about him!" Alice said excitedly.

"Um, his name is Jake and I've known him for basically my entire life," I told her. "He lives in La Push and our fathers are best friends. He's tall and built very well; definately not hard on the eyes. He's really nice and sweet and treats me wonderfully. I think that you would reall like him."

"Then I must meet him sometime!" Alice said. "Maybe me and Jasper and you and Jake can do a double date or something!"

"Actually, Jasper and I were talking about doing a cookout or something sometime," I told her. "I told him that I would text him and we would figure something out."

"Ooh, that's a great idea!" Alice said. "We'll have to find a good time that works for us. Maybe we could invite Edward, too. Come on, let's go ask him."

"I don't think-" I started to say, but Alice had already started leaving her room. I followed her and we walked to Edward's bedroom. She knocked on his door and we waited for Edward to answer. When he didn't answer, Alice opened the door and barged into his room.

His room was a very handsome room. His walls were a dark grey and his carpet was white. He had two large windows that took up a majority of his back wall that showed the beautiful forest outside. There was a computer on a desk that was put in the middle of the two windows. His bed was large and had a large grey comforter on it. His closet was huge but small in comparasson to Alice's and was filled with clothes, too. Edward was sitting on a bench in front of his keyboard with large headphones on his ears and was playing his keyboard.

Alice walked over to Edward and tapped his shoulder twice and said his name. He turned around slowly and took off his headphones. Somehow, his eyes locked with mine and I couldn't look away if I tried. Alice seemed unaware of our little exchange, or she was a very good actress.

"Edward, Bella and I were wondering if you maybe wanted to come to a cookout with us," Alice said.

"When are you planning on doing it?" He asked in his silky voice, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Well, it was Bella's idea, so she should tell you," Alice told him.

As impossible as it seemed, his eyes grew more intense as he waited for me to speak. "I was thinking maybe this weekend if the weather permitts it," I told them. I felt my cheeks get hotter as I was talking.

"If I can, I will," Edward said shortly and turned around, effectively ending the trance I was in.

"Awesome," Alice said. "Well, we'll let you get back to your music. Bye, Edward."

I muttered a goodbye and rushed out of his room. Alice and I walked back silently to her room and I sat myself on her bed.

"So, Bella," Alice started, her hazel eyes boring into mine. "Would you like to explain what the hell that was back there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, looking at the ground.

"What did I tell you about lying to me?" Alice asked. "Something happened back there and I want to know what it was."

"Honestly, Alice, I don't know," I told her. I really couldn't explain what happened in Edward's room.

"You like him," Alice said simply.

I nodded my head slowly. I didn't even try to deny it for two reasons: Alice would know that I was lying, and there was no denying that it was true.

Abruptly Alice squealed loudly and started bouncing up and down on her chair. I smiled sheepishly at her and my cheeks once again got red.

"This is wonderful!" Alice said. "I have to get you guys together; you guys would be great!"

"Alice, I think you're forgetting that I have a boyfriend," I reminded her.

That piece of information got her to stop bounching. She closed her eyes like she was trying to think really hard about something.

"Don't worry," Alice said, a slow smile forming on her face. "That's not going to be a problem."

"And how, might I ask, do you think that?" I asked skeptically.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Alice said. "Never bet against the Alice. I've got a feeling about this; just trust me."

I would have continued the conversation, but my stomach chose that time to growl loudly.

"Well jeez, Bella, are you hungry or something?" Alice asked sarcastically.

My stomach answered her question and we both started laughing, effectively ending our conversation. We were walking down the stairs to get snacks when I saw Alice's mother for the first time; she was absolutely stunning. She was slightly taller than me but was built curvier than I was. She had long, wavy, carmel hair and big, hazel eyes. My hunger was completely forgotten at that point.

"Bella, this is my mom, Esme," Alice introduced. "Mom, this is my new best friend, Bella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said politely, extending my hand out. Esme ignored it and threw me into a hug. I could see where Alice got her personality from.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Esme said. "Alice hasn't stopped talking about you since she first met you."

I felt my cheeks get red yet again and I vaguely wondered if it was just a Cullen trait to make me blush. Admittedly, they were all stunningly gorgeous - so that didn't help me very much.

"You should stay for dinner!" Alice said excitedly. "Please, Mom, can she stay for dinner?" Her eyes got huge and her lips slipped into a little pout; it was the most heartbreaking face I had ever seen, and I was glad that she was not unleashing her powers on _me_.

"Bella, would you like to stay for dinner?" Esme asked, giving me the choice.

"Honestly, I couldn't impose like that," I said. "Plus, Charlie wouldn't be able to make himself dinner if his life depended on it."

"Well maybe some other time then," Esme said looking slightly put out.

"Actually, Bella, Jasper and I were thinking about having a cookout this weekend," Alice said. "Maybe we could have Charlie come over, too, and we could make it a small get-together."

"That's actually a good idea," I said. "I'll ask Charlie when I get home, but I'm sure that he would love that."

"You know, Mom, Bella got Edward to agree to come to our cookout," Alice said with a significant look.

"Really?" Esme asked, her voice colored with surprise. "Well that's wonderful that she convinced him to come."

I didn't understand why she was so surprised but I decided to let it go. My stomach was growling so loudly that I was afraid that it would jump out of my stomach at any moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bella," Alice said. "I completely forgot the reason why we came down here in the first place. You can go through our fridge or pantry and find something to eat."

I walked over to their pantry and grabbed a bag of potato chips. Alice and Esme were having a quiet conversation while I went to get food. They abruptly stopped when they saw that I was back from the pantry.

"Well we're going to go back upstairs, Mom," Alice said.

We ran upstairs and sat in the the same spots that we were in before.

"So, Alice, would you like to explain what the hell that was back there?" I asked, paraphrasing her.

Alice smiled a little bit at the memory and said, "It's nothing, Bella. Mom and I were just talking - that's all. It's no big deal. There's nothing to worry about."

I made a mental note that Alice also couldn't lie to save her live. It was good to know for future references.

"Um, I'm going to have to call the bull shit card on this one," I said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll acknowledge the bull shit card, but I still won't tell," Alice told me after she crossed her arms.

"Fine," I conceded. "I'll let it go...for now. Dun dun dun!"

We both started laughing and snacking on the chips that I grabbed. We kept talking until the sun went down.

"Shit, it's getting late," I said. "I should probably get home."

"Oh, okay," Alice said with a little pout. "I'll see you tomorrow. We definately have to do this again sometime soon."

I nodded and gave her a hug before leaving her bedroom. I planned on sneaking out quietly so that nobody would notice me leaving, but I ended up tripping over my own feet. I braced myself for the inevitable fall, but it never happened. Instead, I found myself in two strong, masculine arms that were holding onto my body tightly. I turned around and found my gaze lock with two very intense green eyes.

"You really should watch where you are going," Edward said before letting me go.

"I'm sorry," I muttered while looking at my feet. I once again felt the blood rush to my cheeks and I bit my lip out of embarassment.

"Are you all right?" he asked me and I was surprised to find that there was a hint of genuine concern in his voice. My eyes lifted by their own will and I once again found myself staring into his beautiful green eyes.

"I'm better now," I blurted out without thinking. I bit my lip again and felt my cheeks get hotter. My response, however, was nothing compared to Edward's response.

He smiled at me. The right side of his face lifted up slightly higher than his left side, creating a perfectly imperfect smile on his face. His eyes lit up with the smile and I felt like my heart was going to burst. Just when I thought that he couldn't be any more beautiful, he has to go and unintentionally proove me wrong.

"Um, I should probably get going," I said.

"I'll walk with you," Edward said. "I was going downstairs to see if Esme needed any help with dinner."

"Okay," I said a little breathlessly.

We walked in companionable silence until we reached the bottom of the staircase.

"I'll see you around," I said to Edward before I left.

"Goodbye, Bella," Edward said before walking toward the kitchen.

I walked in a daze toward my truck and had to sit in the hub for a little bit before I could get my brain to function again. When I decided that I was able to drive, I drove myself home. I followed the way that I came to Alice's house so that I could get to the school. It was the only way that I knew how to get back to my house. I would have to ask Alice or somebody if there was a better way to get home. I got home a little later than I anticipated, so Charlie had to order pizza.

"I'm sorry I'm home so late, Dad," I said. "I lost track of time at Alice's house. It won't happen again."

"It's fine, Bella," he said. "Did you have fun?"

"I had a lot of fun," I told him. "They wanted me to invite you to a cookout this weekend, actually."

"That would be cool," he said. "Do you think they would mind too much if I invited Billy to come, too?"

"I don't think so," I told him. "They are okay with me inviting Jacob, so I can't imaging they would mind if you invited Billy. They are very cool people."

"Awesome," Charlie said. "There's some more pizza if you'd like some."

"Actually, I'm pretty tired, so I think I'm going to go to bed," I told him.

"Okay, good night," he said.

I walked upstairs and got in my bed. I thought about my day and how much fun I had. I really liked Esme and I thought that she could be my Mom-away-from-Mom while I lived in Forks; she reminded me of a more grounded version of Renee.

And then there was Edward. I knew that I had promised that I would stop thinking about him, but it was too difficult to do. Just when I thought that I could write him off as a jerk, he has to go and do something nice for me and confuse the hell out of me. I couldn't understand him for the life of me, and I couldn't help but want to. I wanted to understand Edward Cullen and I vowed that I was going to find out.

I only hoped that Jacob wouldn't mind...


	10. The Cookout

**A/N Thank you so much to luver of all fall out boy, Bloody Ale, and OhSoRadical. for reviewing to last chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it, so it makes me very happy that you liked reading it...:D**

**Okay, I'm not usually one to create playlists for people to listen to, but I have to say that this chapter definately has one. The songs I've chosen are all fun to dance to and are very eclectic, but they also have hidden meaning. The songs that I would listen to are:**

**"Toxic Valentine" by All Time Low**

**"Earthquake" by Family Force 5**

**"Crazy In Love" by Beyonce**

**"I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) [More English]" by Pitbull**

**"New Perspective" by Panic! at the Disco**

**"Take Me on the Floor" by The Veronicas**

**"Sweet Dreams" by Beyonce**

**"Love Sex Magic" by Ciara (featuring Justin Timberlake)**

**"LoveGame" by Lady GaGa**

**So, I'm thinking about doing next chapter as EPOV...do you guys think that is a good idea? Review and let me know! :D **

**Disclaimer: So, although I wish that I was cool enough to have created the Twilight series, I really didn't create it. Darn it!**

BPOV

The week passed by fairly uneventfully, which was not surprising given the natural monotony of school. I continued ignoring "The Fakes" as I had come to call Jessica and Lauren. Alice was quickly becoming my best friend, Jasper was becoming my go-to guy for music and advice, Emmett was becoming like a protective older brother, and Rosalie was like the hot older sister. (**A/N I had to put that line in there; in the movie Thirteen starring Nikki Reed - who also playes Rosalie in the Twilight series - that line was said and I couldn't help myself. If you haven't seen the movie, you definately should; she and Catherine Hardwick - director of Twilight - wrote it together and it's a wonderful, powerful movie.**)

I was doing a fairly good job about not thinking about Edward during the day, but my subconscious seemed to have other ideas; it seemed like he was always a central part of my dreams. They were all very different from each other; one was me at the cookout - what I had imagined that it would be like - and Edward just stared at me from afar. One was Edward and I cuddling on a couch watching a movie on his bed. One was a very erotic dream that made me very happy that we had mostly soundproof rooms; Charlie would have a heart attack if he had heard me.

I called Jacob on Thursday to invite him to the cookout and he happily agreed. He told me that he was really excited to meet the rest of the Cullens that I wouldn't shut up about. I told him that I couldn't help that they were my best friends and they made me happy. I couldn't help but feel guilty talking to him because I felt that I was mentally cheating on him, even though I knew that I would never actually cheat on him; I was a monogamous person and I planned on keeping it that way.

I called Renee after I called Jacob to tell her about the cookout. She told me that she was happy that I had made such great friends and that I should have fun but not too much fun. I still hadn't told her about Jacob and my relationship with him. Part of me felt bad about keeping things from her, but I knew that she would freak out if she had found out and I didn't want that.

I woke up around nine o'clock on Saturday, the day we all agreed on as the day for the cookout because the weather was supposed to cooperate, and I found that I was both equally excited and nervous; excited to spend time with my friends and, if I was being truthful to myself, I would get to see Edward and I was nervous because I was worried about Jacob meeting my friends. I had already known that he did not like Edward because of what happened at the hospital, but I was hoping that Jacob would see that Edward really was not a bad guy.

I finally got out of bed after stretching hugely and almost falling off of my bed. I mentally cursed myself for my clumsiness and grabbed my bag of toilitres to take a shower. The hot water helped loosen the muscles in my back, leaving me incredibly relaxed and my worries were temporarily forgotten. I made sure to shave meticulously, even though I knew that I wasn't going to get physical with anybody - I just felt cleaner after shaving. I got out of the shower when the water began running cold and wrapped a towel around my head and other around my waist and walked to my bedroom to choose an outfit. I knew that the Cullens had already seen me in my normal clothes, but I felt the need to put some effort in my appearance. I grabbed a black v-neck tee shirt and dark blue jeans and my black Converse shoes. I got dressed and decided to re-paint my nails because they were looking horrible.

When I was finished doing my nails and getting dressed, I decided to flat iron my hair since it had dried in the towel. I plugged in my straightener and wished that I had some kind of music player to listen to music with. My birthday was coming up and I realized that, for the first time in my sixteen years of life, I wanted something for my birthday: an iPod. Jasper had an iPod touch and it was one of the coolest things that I had ever seen. I was thinking about asking Charlie for one for my birthday, but I knew how expensive they were and Charlie wasn't exactly rich.

The straightener finally got hot enough and I started straightening my hair. Unfortunately, being the wonderfully graceful person that I was, I burned the side of my neck with the straightener. I let out a quiet stream of profanities under my breath as the pain seared through my neck. I believe my exact words were, "God damn mother fucking son of a bitch that hurts like a fucking bitch!" Eventually the pain cooled down and I was able to continue straighten my hair. When I finished, I place my hair over my burn because it was starting to look more like a hickey than a burn and I didn't want any awkward questions.

After I brushed my teeth, I left the bathroom and headed downstairs to start making my sidedish for the cookout. We all decided that it should be a potluck and we should bring our favorite meals. Knowing the people that were coming, I felt that I would be best off making Grandma Marie's macaroni and cheese. I had gone to the store earlier in the week to get the ingredients that I needed. I started preparing the water for the noodles as I grabbed the ingredients for the recipe that I knew by heart. Grandma Marie was by far my favorite relative; I could talk to her about anything and she would always be there for me. Unfortunately she passed away last year when I was fifteen-years-old, but I always felt that she was with me - especially when I was cooking; I got my love of cooking from her.

About twenty minutes before the food was done, Charlie came down the stairs groggily while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Charlie was never much of a morning person and it was very apparent, especially when he talked.

"Mornin' Bells," he grumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "You makin' mac and cheese?"

"Yeah," I told him. "We should be leaving to pick up Jacob and Billy in about a half an hour because it takes about thirty minutes to get to La Push and back. I wanted to have everything ready before we left." I had been the one to prepare everything because I hated throwing things together last minute.

Charlie just grunted and walked to the living room. I didn't take offense to it though because I had learned that he was not a man of many words and that he liked to retreat to his sanctuary - also known as the living room - in the morning.

When the macaroni and cheese was done, I pulled it out of the oven and set it on top of the stove so that it could cool down. When I decided that it was not too uncomfortably hot, I put aluminum foil over it so that it would be easy to transport.

"Dad, are you ready to leave?" I called out to the living room.

"Yeah," was his response.

I grabbed the food and walked with Charlie to his cruiser. We decided that it would be a better idea for the four of us to ride in Charlie's police cruiser because it was the safest; a cop would never allow teenagers to sit in the back of a truck because it was illegal. We drove out to La Push and saw Jacob and Billy standing outside of their small house looking happy to see us. Billy had some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry and some beer in his lap.

"Neither of us can cook," Jacob said simply to me as he saw me eyeing the food.

The bear hug that he gave me when I stepped out of the cruiser almost broke my ribs. My arms unconsciously wrapped around Jacob's neck and held on for dear life as he spun me around in circles. He stopped spinning me and leaned down to kiss me. My legs unconsciously wrapped around his waist because it was more comfortable for me. We stopped when we heard our fathers clear their throats, even though we knew that they had no problem with the two of us being together like that; they encouraged it, if anything, like they thought that we were meant to be together or something.

We all chat in the car on the way to the Cullen's. Jacob sat in the back with me while Billy sat up front with Charlie. Jacob wrapped his arm around my body so that I was leaning into his body. It would have been a comfortable position in any other situation, but the seatbelt was constricting around me in the most uncomfortable way. I didn't want to say anything to Jacob, though, because I was still feeling guilty about my obsessive thinking about Edward.

When we arrived at the Cullen's house, everybody seemed to be there; Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, Edward, and what looked to be Jasper and Rosalie's parents. I felt really excited that Edward decided to make it to our cookout; I lied and told myself that I was just interested to see how he interacted with other people. I grabbed my mac and cheese and Jacob carried the fish fry and we walked to their backyard.

"Bella! So glad you could make it!" Esme said enthusiastically when she saw me. "Oh, and you must be Jacob!" she added when she saw him walking awkwardly next to me.

"Nice to meet you," Jacob said, and it sounded forced to me, but I was probably imagining things.

She led us to a table that she had set out to put our food. I was surprised at how much food there was on the table; there was hashbrown casserole, steak, chicken, corn on the cob, salad, chips, a veggie plate, and potato salad. Then there were three coolers filled with water, Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, and beer for the adults. The adults had a table on the patio and the rest of us sat at picnic tables in the yard.

"Hey guys, this is Jacob," I told the group as I walked towards them. I tried my hardest not to look at Edward and I succeeded for a little while until I felt his gaze. I looked up and saw him looking intently at me and I got trapped in his gaze. The connection was broken when he turned his wonderful eyes to Jacob, who had just started speaking.

"It's Jake, actually," he told everyone. He gave me a pointed look that I couldn't quite understand, but I shrugged it off.

Conversation flowed around after the pleasantries were said and I found myself caught up in it. I didn't feel awkward, which made me happy because I was afraid that things would be awkward with Jacob with us. He left to go get a plate of food and I seized my opportunity to talk to Edward, who had been rather quiet during the conversation.

"So Edward," I started, "what made you decide to come to our little get-together?"

All eyes turned to him, gauging his reaction when he spoke. "I thought it would be a good idea to spend time with the people that I love," he said, looking intensely into my eyes. I felt myself blush when he didn't look away. Our connection was broken when I heard Emmett clear his throat loudly.

I jumped back into the conversation more enthusiastically than I would have normally to hide my embarassment. I saw Edward and Alice exchange a meaningful glance once during the conversation, but they looked away when they noticed that I was looking. Jacob returned with his food and moved his chair so that it was touching mine and sat down. He grabbed my hand and rested it on my thigh and began rubbing circles on my hand with his thumb. I gave him a questioning look and he just shrugged it off.

"Do you guys want to dance?" Alice asked randomly. "I can go get some speakers and I can hook my iPod up."

Everybody agreed except for me until Alice used her heartbreakingly sad face and I caved. Edward said that he would go with her and, although I couldn't understand why she would need help carrying and iPod and iPod speakers, I let it go; I had learned that the Cullens didn't make sense a lot of the time - something that I found that I loved about them. They returned a few minutes later with the iPod and speakers. Edward looked exasperated, or that's what he looked like to me, and Alice looked smug and excited. She set her iPod on the table and "Earthquake" by Family Force 5 started playing. I loved Family Force 5 - something that Alice knew and probably used to get me in the dancing mood - so I got up and started dancing. Me, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie all started dancing and Jacob and Edward watched us.

"Edward, come dance with us!" Alice said with a pout after the third song started.

"I'm okay, Alice," Edward said. "I'm going to go get a plate of food."

"I am, too," I blurted out without thinking. When everyone looked at me I said, "I'm hungry." Edward and I walked to the table of food.

"I'm sorry they tried making you dance," I said to him, hoping to start a conversation.

Edward sighed and said, "It's okay. Alice will be Alice."

I laughed and said, "I know what you mean. Her and that pout; it should be illegal!"

He looked at me said, "She has an uncanny ability to make people do things her way."

"Do you not like to dance?" I asked him when we reached the table.

He seemed to think about it for a second. "It's not that I don't like to dance," he told me while he fixed himself a plate of food. "I've just never been comfortable enough around people to do it."

"That's the way I usually am," I confided while I started piling food on my plate. "But you Cullens just seem to make me feel good, so I feel comfortable enough to let loose."

I bit my lip as I realized the double entendre in my words and looked up at him, my eyes widened in shock and embarassment. He gazed into my eyes and I saw something change in his eyes. I couldn't understand the change, so I decided to let it go. However, I couldn't look away from his gaze if my life depended on it.

"Well, I am glad we make you feel good," Edward said, his voice sounding deeper than it did before.

I took in a shaky breath as my brain realized what had just happened; I had just inadvertently turned on Edward Cullen. I blushed furiously as I realized what I had done and I was surprised to find that I was starting to react too; my lips suddenly went dry, so I ran my tongue across my lips to put moisture back into them. I watched as Edward's gaze went to my lips. Deciding to get a little bold, I decided to slowly lick my lips and was extremely satisfied when I heard him groan softly.

"We should probably get back," I said, feeling sad that we had to end our little private moment.

"Yeah," he said finally. "I have the sudden urge to dance, now, anyway."

I smiled widely at him, truely happy that I had convinced him to dance with us. We walked back in companionable silence on the way back to the group, who was now dancing to "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" by Pitbull. I smiled a little at the irony of the song and walked to my seat next to Jacob. He unexpectedly pulled me into his lap, making me almost drop my food on the ground. He wrapped his arms around me protectively and kissed my neck.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I just want to spend time with my girlfriend," he said, a little louder than necessary. "Is that such a crime?"

I ignored him and started eating my food. I glanced over at Edward and saw that his face was back to neutral, emotionless. He just stared at his family and friends dancing. I decided that I was going to dance with him when he finished eating because I wanted to see him go back to how he was being with me earlier. When he finished his food, I set my plate down on the table.

"I'm going to dance," I said to Jacob.

He loosened his arms and I got off of his lap. I walked over to Edward and asked him to dance with us and he shook his head.

"Come on, Edward," I said. "Please come dance with me?"

Something in his eyes seem to change as I changed the wording of my question. Without saying anything, he got off of his chair and walked with me to where everyone was dancing. I started swaying my hips to the beat of the song - "Take Me on the Floor" by The Veronicas - while Edward just stood there awkwardly.

"Don't think," I told him. "Just feel."

He started swaying awkwardly and I wanted to help him. I grabbed his hands and entwined our fingers and started moving our hands back and forth to the beat of the music. I gasped at the heat that coursed through my body when our hands touched. He started letting loose a little more and I smiled in encouragement.

"See, you're doing it," I told him encouragingly.

"You're helping," he told me.

He pulled me closer as the song said, "Take me on the floor, I can't take it anymore, You kill me, kill me, kill me with your touch." I could feel the muscles through the black t-shirt he was wearing. We continued dancing like this until I felt someone's hand grab my shoulder.

"I'd like to dance with my girlfriend, if you don't mind," Jacob growled at Edward.

I watched as Edward shut down again and let go of my hands. I immediately felt saddened by the loss of contact. Edward walked back to his seat as Jacob grabbed my waist, pulling me so my back was to his chest. I started swaying my hips to the music as he started moving. We danced like that for a few songs and then I told him that I was done dancing. We walked to the table together and sat down. After a few more songs, the other two couples decided that they were done dancing and sat down with us. Alice turned off her iPod and sat down on Jasper's lap. We all started talking again and Edward and Jacob listened in.

After about a half an hour, Charlie came over and told us that we were leaving. I said goodbye to everybody and that I would see them later. Jacob just awkwardly waved goodbye; he didn't seem to fit in with my friends like I thought that he would. Charlie wheeled Billy to the cruiser and Jacob and I followed. I asked Charlie if he had a good time and he told me that he did. He said he really liked the Cullen's and the Hale's and that he was glad that I had invited him. Billy agreed that he had a good time, too.

We dropped off Billy and Jacob and drove home in silence. I knew Charlie was probably exhausted from the long day and would probably fall asleep as soon as we got home. Sure enough, not fifteen minutes after we got home, Charlie was asleep.

I walked up to my room and decided to e-mail Renee and tell her what happened at the cookout because I knew she would be waiting for my e-mail.

_Hey Mom,_

_We just got back from the cookout and I had so much fun. It was a potluck, so we all made our favorite dishes. I made Grandma Marie's macaroni and cheese and everybody loved it. There was so much food, you would have gained ten pounds just looking at the food. It was delicious, though, and definately worth it._

_Alice decided that it would be a great idea to have a mini dance party. Surprisingly, though, I didn't fall or knock anything over. I know, I'm just as shocked as you are. It was actually a lot of fun and I'm glad she did it._

_I'm really tired, actually, so I'm going to go to bed. I know, I'm lame for getting exhausted after being in social situations for a long time. I love you._

_~Bella_

Satisfied with my e-mail, I sent it to Renee before powering down the computer. I changed into my ratty old pajamas and threw my hair into a ponytail. I washed my face and brushed my teeth and walked back to my room. I stared at the ceiling and thought about my day.

I was so happy that Edward was slowly breaking out of his shell. I knew that there was a beautiful creature inside of him that was hidden by an unemotional jerk and I wanted that to come out. I knew that Edward was an amazing person and I wished that he would show that to people. I vowed that I would try to open him up - no matter what I had to do.

I realized in that moment, that it was now impossible for me to stop thinking about Edward. It seemed to me like everything in my life seemed to revolve around him, somehow. I couldn't understand the feeling or why it was happening, but I realized that I didn't dislike the feeling. I really liked the feeling, actually.

I then started thinking about Jacob. How did I feel about him, now? It seemed like my feelings had all of the sudden felt platonic. I wasn't interested in him romantically anymore because it was overshadowed by something that felt more powerful to me. I didn't feel the heat course through my body when I touched Jacob like it did when I touched Edward. Although my body reacted when I kissed Jacob, I knew that it would be nothing in comparassion to how it would react with Edward if we kissed. I realized then that I really wanted to kiss Edward, but I knew that I couldn't because I was in a relationship with Jacob and I don't cheat when I'm in a relationship.

It seemed like the time was coming where I would have to choose between Jacob and Edward. Something that I was definately not looking forward to dealing with.


	11. Edward's Story EPOV

**A/N Thank you to Bloody Ale, OhSoRadical. and luver of all fall out boy for reviewing to last chapter. As always, you guys make me smile like a small child on Christmas day. You guys know exactly what to say to make me all giddy inside. :)**

**So, as promised, this chapter is EPOV - yay - and I think this will help you guys understand Edward a little better. He has been through a lot of stuff, so cut him a little slack. He's still the Edward that we all know and love. I did some research on some of the stuff and I hope that I'm correct with my information. If I'm not, then I use the whole "this-is-fiction-and-I-can-make-them-do-whatever-I-want-them-to-do-and-not-care-if-the-information-is-correct" thing that us authors like to use. :D :D :D**

**Disclaimer: I didn't write Twilight; I just play around with its characters and make them do things that they normally wouldn't have.**

EPOV

_Structure. Study. Solitude._

Those were the three s's that my life had been, it seemed, since the day I was born. The concepts were drilled into my head by my father, Edward Sr., for as long as I could remember. He would always tell me that without _structure_, everything would fall apart and become worthless. If I didn't _study_, then I would be worthless and a waste of a human brain. If I didn't live my life in _solitude_, then I would give distraction the opportunity to force its way into my life, thus making my structure and studying worthless. _Worthless_; that was another word that had been tossed around during my childhood.

I lived a very militaristic way with my father and my mother, Elizabeth. My father was in the marine corps for fifteen years before fathering me, and the ideas that the marines taught him stuck with him. We would wake up every morning at 0400, regardless of the day of the week. My father and I would go to the gym and work out until 0600, even though I was so small that I couldn't lift many weights, while my mother would cook us an elaborate breakfast. We would always arrive home at 0630 and we would be done with our showers and dressed for the day by 0700. We would pray until 0705 and then we would be finished eating at 0730. My father would drive me to school at 0735 so that we would arrive precisely at 0800. My father always made it abundantly clear that school was my number one priority - my sole purpose in life until I became a man. School would let out at 1500 and my mother would be waiting in the car for me. I would work on my homework and study until 1730. My father would come home at 1745 and would immediately walk up to my mother and kiss her. At 1750 we would pray and eat our dinner, which ended at 1820. My father always spent exactly ten minutes, making the time 1830, checking over my homework. I would then correct my homework until 1900. Chores were to be finished before 1945 and lights out, for me, was 2000. Then the cycle would repeat the next day.

I lived this life until I was fourteen-years-old. One day, my mother was killed by a drunk driver in an automobile accident. Before the funeral, my father told me to not show any emotion whatsoever. If I wanted to cry, I was to hold it in and not show anybody. The funeral was small - just family - and relatively short. I saved my tears until I was in the safety of my bedroom.

After my mother's death, my father became increasingly angrier. He was drinking heavily and would take his anger out on me in his drunken state. In the morning, when he saw what he had done, he told me to cover up the bruises and not tell anybody what had happened. I lived this way for a half year until my teachers started taking notice to me. They would ask me why I would always wear long shirts and jeans and I would tell them what my father told me to tell them; that I was clumsy and inept and hurt myself. One day, two case workers pulled me out of my freshman English class and took me to the guidance councelor's office. They demanded that I pulled up my sleeves and show them the bruises. I tried to fight against them because I knew that my father would be furious if I showed them, but they managed to pull the sleeves up. They asked me if my father did this to me and I stared at the table, refusing to tell them anything. They took my silence as a "yes" and they told me that they were going to get me out of that household.

I was put into foster care and my dad was carted off to jail for domestic violence and our family's name was disgraced. I didn't understand how to interact with the other children, so I stayed in solitude and read books. I found that I could escape into other worlds through books and I could forget about everything in my life. I stayed in foster care for another half year - making me fifteen-years-old - until a couple named Esme and Carlisle Cullen came to foster care. They took one look at me and decided that I was the child that they wanted. There was a long interview process to determine parential compatibility and it was determined that we were compatible.

When the Cullens took me to their home, they asked me if I wanted to keep my last name or change it to theirs. I decided that, because I didn't want to forget where I came from, I would use my last name - Masen - as my middle name and change my last name to Cullen. They introduced me to their two children, Alice and Emmett, who were completely opposite from anybody I knew. Alice was very small and a giant bundle of energy and Emmett was huge and very friendly. They both tried to get me to open up, but it went against everything that I knew. They didn't give up, though; they tried every single day to get me to open up to them. After a few years, I decided that I could trust them enough to tell them what happened to me and why I was the person that I was. Instead of trying to change me, the Cullens tried to allow me to be myself. The only problem was that I didn't know who I was; I knew absolutely nothing about myself.

So I spent the last years of my high school education doing some soul searching. I discovered that I had a natural talent for music and that I loved it more than anything in the world. I found that, although I didn't interact with people very often, I was able to read people very well. I learned what things that I liked and what things that I disliked. I started developing myself into a person that I liked and I found myself happier than I had ever felt with my birth family. I loved my new family more than I ever thought was possible and was incredibly happy for them. I had made friends at school - Jasper and his twin sister Rosalie - and found that I enjoyed their company more than I ever imagined I could. The only time that things got awkward for me was when they started acting like couples; I could tolerate it most of the time, but sometimes it irritated me to no end.

I graduated at the top of my class and was accepted to Harvard University, Cornell University, Duke University, University of Washington and John Hopkins University: all schools in the top fifteen best universities for medical school - I planned on following in Carlisle's footsteps. Although I liked all of the colleges I applied to, I liked the University of Washington the most because it allowed me to be close to my family. I went off to UW for my freshman year and found that I was very good at my classes. Carlisle was ecstatic to find that I enjoyed my classes and was succeeding in them. I made sure to visit my family as frequently as I could, but it was difficult given the rigorous curriculum. I reverted back to the person that I was with my father and became structered, studious, and lived in solitude. I hated that I was becoming that person because I enjoyed being the person that I was with my family. I talked to Carlisle about it and he told me that it was completely okay - my behavior - and that I needed to do what was right for me. He offered me an internship at the hospital that he worked with and I jumped on the opportunity immediately.

I enjoyed working with Carlisle at the hospital; I had always admired his dedication and compassion when it came to his line of work. I knew that he loved it almost as much as he loved his wife and children, and I admired that - admired him. I arranged my classes in a way that I could intern for half a day and take my classes for half a day. I was completely content with the way my life was and I knew that nothing could change that. Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize how soon things could change.

I was working with Carlisle doing rounds with him. Everything seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. There was a patient who hit their head and needed stitches. Seeing this hundreds of times before, I sat in the room and waited for the patient. I watched as my father - for all intents and purposes - walked in with a group of people. I felt like time froze as I saw the face of the girl who hit her head. She was absolutely stunning. She had long brown hair and very creamy, soft-looking skin. She was skinny, but she had curves that I could see through her Linkin Park shirt and black skinny jeans. Linkin Park was one of my favorite bands of all time and I liked the fact that she liked them, too, and I couldn't explain to myself why I felt that way. I listened to her friend explained what had happened. I heard her say that her name was "Bella" and I thought that it suited her perfectly. _Beautiful_. Carlisle seemed to notice that something was happening to me, so he sent me to get the needle and thread. I tried to calm myself down, but my heart was on overdrive. I managed to put back on the calm mask and walk back to the room. Carlisle stitched her up, and I found that I wished that_ I_ could be the one to stitch her up. When he was done, Carlisle cornered me and asked what was going on with me.

"I don't know," I told him honestly. "I can't explain how I'm feeling right now. I feel like my heart is trying to explode out of my chest."

"You like the girl," he told me simply.

Carlisle left me while I pondered that for a while. Did I like her? I couldn't answer that question because I didn't know. I barely even knew the girl, so I couldn't tell if I liked her or not. I was pretty sure that I would never see the girl again, so it didn't matter if I liked her or not. However, the world seemed to be out to contradict everything I thought that I knew because she came walking toward me with her group of friends behind her.

"Excuse me," I said politely. "Are you lost?"

I was extremely interested to hear what she sounded like. Her large brown eyes bored into mine, making my thoughts jumble around in my head.

"Um, we were just trying to leave," she said, only it sounded more like a question than a statement. Just as I was about to answer her, her friend - the one who told us what happened - gave me a death glare for no apparent reason. That pissed me off; _what did I do to him?_

"Well the exit is the other way," I told her, my voice sounding harsher than normal because of my anger with the idiotic boy.

I watched as her face fell and I immediately felt guilty for being the reason why it happened.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, and I had no idea what she was apologizing for; _I _was the one who should have been apologizing. "Thank you."

She turned around and walked out with her friends. I was immediately overwhelmed with remorse and guilt; I had no reason to talk to her like that. She had done nothing wrong; she had just gotten lost in our large hospital. I wished that I could go over to her and apologize, but I had a job to do. I put back on my calm mask and finished my rounds.

The girl, Bella, was on my mind constantly. Where was she? What was she doing? Was she happy? I felt like a mind stalker because it felt like all I could do was think about her. I felt saddened by the fact that I would never see her again; it wasn't like she ended up in the hospital every other week - even though I couldn't help but secretly wish that she did so I could see her again. I felt bad for thinking that, but I really wanted to see her.

Luck seemed to be on my side for once in my life. Alice convinced me to go to the store with her. I didn't understand why she wanted _me_ to go with her, but that girl could convince me to do anything; I was a sucker for her "sad face" as she called it. She knew all about what had happened at the hospital because she was my closest confidant, so when we walked down the chip isle and saw her, she immediately recognized her.

"Isabella Swan?" she asked her.

I watched as Bella's eyes widened in shock as a complete stranger knew who she was. Then she saw me and a light blush warmed her cheeks. That blush did things to my body that I couldn't understand; it didn't help that my mind went completely blank, my face probably going blank, too. Alice and Bella started talking and I found out that she was a senior, too. They talked about how I was in college and she started giggling with Alice. If I thought that her blush did things to my body, it was nothing in comparassion to her laugh. It made me feel like my bones had turned spongey and my brain turned to goop. Alice, being the all-knowing person that she was, seemed to notice that something was up with me. The moment that we were away from Bella, she confronted me.

"So, Edward," she said, spinning around so she was facing me, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. "What was that back there?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," I lied.

"Oh, I think you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about," she told me. "You like her, don't you? Don't lie to me; I know when you lie."

I sighed and nodded my head because I couldn't see the point in lying. Her squeal of happiness was loud enough that people started staring at us.

"It's about time that you found someone," she said, trying to look stern. The huge smile on her face was a dead giveaway, though.

While we were checking out, Alice felt the need to inform Emmett about Bella in great detail. Emmett looked at me and I neither confirmed nor denied what she was saying. Unfortunately, my siblings - for all intents and purposes - knew how to read me, and he knew that Alice wasn't lying or exaggerating to him. When we got home, Alice preceded to tell Esme all about Bella and how she was going to love her when she met her. The way that she talked about Bella, one would think that they had known each other for years. She was making plans to have Bella come over to our house after school and she had only met the girl an hour before.

Good luck seemed to be on my side because Bella came over two days after meeting Alice. The thought of her being in the place where I had lived for the past four years did interesting things to me. I didn't want to intrude on their "girl time" as Alice called it, so I spent time in my room. I was very restless, knowing that Bella was only a few hundred feet away from me, so I decided to start playing music. I sat at my keyboard and plugged in my headphones and started playing some of the songs that I had composed. Suddenly, a new song started playing in my head, completely different from the one that I was playing on the keyboard. I started playing the song I was hearing and loved how it sounded. I realized that it reminded me of Bella: sweet, light, and beautiful.

Suddenly, Alice and Bella were standing in my bedroom. My mind went to the gutter as I thought of how Bella was in my bedroom, where I had a rather large bed and semi-soundproof walls. My eyes locked with hers, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to look away from her if my life depended on it. Admittedly, if I had died in that moment, I would have died a _very_ happy man. Alice invited me to a cookout that Bella and she was planning and I could see in Bella's eyes that she wanted me to come to the cookout, so I agreed. When they left the room, I noticed that my heart was racing and I felt dizzy. I realized that my dizziness was from breath deprivation. Once I got my breathing and heartbeat under control, I walked to my bed and daydreamed of what Bellla and I would do if my sister weren't in the room with us...

I suddenly got the urge to go downstairs, so I got off my bed and walked out of my room. I watched Bella as she walked out of Alice's room surreptitiously. Unfortunately, she tripped over her feet and started falling. I walked over to her and caught her before she fell and reveled in how wonderful her small frame felt against mine. I told her to watch where she was going, because I noticed that she seemed to have a habit of not paying attention where she was going. I watched as blood rushed to her cheeks and her teeth began worrying her bottom lip. I was worried that she might have hurt herself and I asked her if she was all right. When she told me that she was "better now", I couldn't help but think that maybe I was the reason why she was feeling better. The thought made me smile and it made her cheeks turn a deeper shade of red. We walked down the stairs in a companionable silence. Part of me wanted to say something, but I realized that I would probably sound stupid, so I stayed quiet.

I thought about Bella for the rest of the week and wondered if she was thinking about me as much as I was thinking about her. I wished that there was some way that I could find out; if only I could read her mind. I found myself genuinely looking forward to the cookout, even though I knew that her father was going to be there. When the day of the cookout had finally arrived, I found that I was more excited than I had been in a long time. I took a shower and got dressed and helped Alice get ready for the cookout. We set it up so that the parents could have alone time on the patio and the "kids" could hang out in the yard. Alice, Emmett and I waited for our guests to arrive.

Rosalie and Jasper arrived with their parents first. The brought their homemade potato salad, a recipe that had been in their family since the Civil War. We all sat and ate while we waited for Bella and her father to arrive. Bella was a central part of our conversation; it seemed that she had charmed her way into the hearts of my friends and family, too. They all seemed to think of her as family and that warmed my heart; my friends and family stuck together - no matter what - so I knew that she would always have people to go to.

I looked over at Esme because I had seen that she had left the table and was surprised to find that Bella was standing with the boy from the hospital and it irked me more than it should. I noticed that he didn't look particularly comfortable and that brought a small smile to my face. They set their food on the food table and walked over to us. Bella introduced the boy to us as "Jacob," but he corrected her and said that he preferred "Jake." I vaguely wondered why she called him "Jacob" instead but dismissed it; I could not care less. We started conversation and I noticed that Bella seemed completely comfortable and that made me internally smile. It made me happy that she enjoyed my family. So when Bella asked me why I decided to come to the cookout, I found myself blurting the truth.

"I thought that it would be a good idea to spend time with the people I love," I told her, looking her directly in the eyes. I watched as her cheeks turned a light pink and I couldn't stop looking at her. We both stopped staring at each other when we heard Emmett clear his throat loudly.

Conversation flowed around us and I watched as Bella became more animated. Things got a little awkward when Jacob - Jake - returned to the table; he grabbed Bella's hand and put their hands on her thigh, a very possesive move. I could tell that Bella was uncomfortable and, fortunately, so did Alice. When she suggested that we have a small dance, I could have kissed her. I volunteered to go with her to get the speakers, even though I knew that she didn't need the help; I just wanted the chance to talk to her.

"Spill," Alice said when we walked into the house.

"I really want to dance with Bella," I confessed. "But I know that she doesn't want to dance..."

"Don't worry," Alice said. "I know her weakness; Family Force 5. She loves them. I'll make a playlist of fun dance music and put them on there. Between the music and you, poor little Bella won't be able to resist."

"What makes you say that?" I asked as we reached her room. I stood in the doorway as she got her iPod and speakers.

"She likes you, too," she said. "Here's what you need to do: sit out the first few songs. When I ask you to dance with us, you say that you want to get a plate of food. If I know Bella like I think I do, she will jump at the chance to talk to you alone. Then let whatever happens, happen."

She walked back to me and handed me the speakers, telling me that I had to look like I was helping her. We walked back to the table and plugged in her iPod and started playing the playlist that Alice had made for parties. Following Alice's advice, I sat out the first few songs and watched as Bella danced. Alice, as promised, asked me to dance and I told her that I wanted to get food. Bella, like Alice said she would, said that she wanted to get food, too. I did an internal happy dance as she got out of her chair. She apologized for them trying to make me dance.

"It's okay," I told her honestly. "Alice will be Alice." I didn't mention the fact that I was eternally grateful for Alice and what she planned out for me.

I found that talking to her was very easy and that I enjoyed her presence more than I could have known. I found myself speaking the truth and telling her how I felt. I really _did_ like to dance, but I was usually uncomfortable with people, so I never did it. When she told me that me and my family made her feel good, my brain stopped working because the blood in my body was flowing to another important part of my body.

"Well, I'm glad we make you feel good," I told her, my voice sounding deeper in my arousal.

I watched as she took in a shaky breath and licked her lips. My eyes unconsciously focused on her lips and I watched as she repeated the motion again, exaggerating the motion. I couldn't contain the groan that escaped my lips as I thought about what her lips and that tongue could do. I felt reality set back in when she told me that we needed to get back to the group before they suspected something. She smiled when I told her that I had a sudden urge to dance. We walked back to the table together and I watched as Bella's face turned into a smile when she realized what song was playing. I sat down in my seat and watched Bella in my peripheral vision and watched as Jacob - Jake - pulled her onto her lap.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I just want to spend time with my girlfriend," he said, louder than necessary. I watched as he gave me a look before speaking. "Is that such a crime?"

I felt my face drain of emotion, something that I always did as a defense mechanism, as I watched my family and friends dancing. I forced myself to focus on eating my food, even though I felt Bella's eyes on me. When I finished my food, I heard Bella tell her idiot boyfriend that she wanted to dance with the group. Completely in shock, I shook my head, no.

"Come on, Edward," she pleaded. "Please come dance with me?"

I couldn't resist her when she made the question more specific; she wanted _me_ to dance with _her_. Without thinking, I got out of my chair and followed her to our makeshift dancefloor. I watched as she started swiviling her hips to the beat of the music and I felt myself freeze.

"Don't think," she told me. "Just feel."

I started moving back and forth to the music awkwardly. The song that was playing was a more pop-sounding song and I didn't really listen to that style, so I didn't know what I was supposed to do. She grabbed my hands and locked our fingers together and began moving them to the beat of the music. It was indescribable, the feel of her hands in mine. I watched rather than heard her take a quick breath. I realized that, whatever the feeling was that was coursing through my body, she was experiencing it, too. That thought helped me relax and get into the music more. She encouraged me, telling me that I was doing well and that made me get bold. I pulled her body close to mine so I could feel her soft breasts against my hard stomach.

"You kill me, kill me, kill me with your touch," the singers of the song said.

I had never heard more true words. I felt like my heart was trying to break out of my chest as we danced to the song. We continued dancing like this until her idiotic boyfriend grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to him. I felt my face become the mask of emotionlessness that I had perfected so well over the years and I let go of her hands. I hoped that Bella wouldn't notice the sadness that I was trying so hard to hide from her. I walked back to my seat at the table and watched as he grabbed her so posessively. They danced like that for a few songs and then they walked back to the table. Eventually, the dance party ended and the other couples joined us at the table. I stayed out of the conversation because I was lost in my thoughts of Bella. After a little while, her father and what I assumed to be Jacob's father came to tell them that they needed to go home. Bella waved goodbye to us and Jacob just ignored us; nobody seemed sad to see him leave. When they left the party, I was cornered by my friends and family.

"So Edward," Jasper said. "Would you like to explain what is going on between you and Bella?"

"Nothing's going on," I told him.

"It sure as hell didn't look like it," Rosalie said, glaring at me.

"Then what did it look like?" I asked rudely. Rosalie tended to bring out the worst in me and this was no exception.

"Well, it looked like you were flirting with a girl who is in a relationship with someone else," Rosalie told me.

"Then you must need your eyes checked, Rosalie," I said.

"Edward, why won't you admit that you like her?" Alice said, sounding sad.

"I know that I like her," I told her. "I can't do anything because she, like Rosalie pointed out, is in a relationship."

"I think we can help with that," Alice said with determination, looking at the group who all had similar looks of determination on their faces.

"What, are you going to break them up?" I challenged.

"No, Edward," Alice said. "You just leave this to us. I have a plan."

Rosalie and Jasper's parents walked over to our table and said that it was time to go. Alice told them that she would be in touch with them to let them know the details of her plan. They left and we got to cleaning up the yard. I was really happy, with the exception of Bella's boyfriend, that we had the cookout. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself, for the most part. We cleaned up quietly and I decided to go upstairs and think once we had finished.

"Where do I stand with Bella?" I asked myself.

I knew that I was attracted to her; she was a beautiful girl and she seemed unaware of her effect on people. I knew that I felt comfortable around her, even though I didn't know her very well. I enjoyed talking to her, which was odd for me. I realized that she went against everything that I was taught while growing up. She tried to help me open up when I always hid behind a mask. I realized that Bella would be good for me and that I wanted to have her.

Maybe I wouldn't go against Alice's plan afterall.


	12. Dreams and Indecision

****

A/N Thank you to Bloody Ale, OhSoRadical. and luver of all fall out boy for reviewing to last chapter. It makes me so happy that you liked Edward's point of view. I felt that his story needed to be told; it will play a big part in this story.

**So I have a college audition for the School of Music at the university that I plan on attending this Saturday, so updating might be a little difficult. I'm extremely stressed out and worried - although it's probably unnecessary - but it's that Type-A Personality that I have that makes me unnecessarily stress. I'll let you guys know how I did (if you're curious) because I'll probably be spazzing if/when I get into the school. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight...duh. :D**

BPOV

The rest of the weekend was spent sleeping and vegging; Charlie and I both needed a day to recuperate from the cookout. As fun as it was to be with my friends like that, it was exhausting; I was a very introverted person, so it took a lot of energy from me to be in social situations.

On Monday, I went to Alice's after school to hang out. As completely opposite as she was from me, I loved her to death. If I could have a sister, I would wish that she would be like Alice. She was so happy, extroverted, and loveable that I couldn't help but be instant friends with her. When she invited me to dinner, I declined again by telling her that I really needed to cook Charlie dinner, but I would definately come over for dinner on Wednesday.

Wednesday showed up faster than I could've anticipated. I went over to Alice's house after school and we hung out. We watched Mean Girls, a guilty pleasure movie of mine, and that inspired Alice to want to give me a makeover.

"Come on, Bella!" she whined, pouting heartbreakingly. "Please let me do a makeover! Pretty please? Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"

"Fine, Alice," I conceded, unhappy that her pout was able to make me do whatever she wanted; it was practically a weapon of mass destruction.

So that's how I ended up sitting in front of Alice's vanity, getting my hair put in curlers and makeup put on my face. I couldn't understand why she was so hell-bent on giving me a makeover - I was just eating dinner with her and her family - but I knew that complaining would get me nowhere; Alice was like a fashion Nazi.

When she was satisfied with my face, she went to her closet and grabbed a shirt that was a white, long-sleeved shirt that had blue designs going down the chest and stomach. It was long, so it would be long enough to cover me, but it looked like it would be tight on me. I gave her a skeptical face, but Alice quickly dismissed it.

"You'll look beautiful," she told me, and then she said the words that convinced me to wear it: "And Edward will love you in this."

Alice helped me get my Family Force 5 t-shirt over my head without messing up the rollers that were still in my hair and helped ease her shirt over my head. She squealed in excitement as she took in my appearence and told me how beautiful I looked. She took me to the vanity to take the rollers out of my hair. When the rollers were out, she told me to stand up and look at myself.

The girl that was looking back at me in the mirror looked nothing like me. Her eyes were huge, but not obnoxiously so, and framed by long, black lashes. Her lips were full and glossy and her cheeks were lightly pink. Her hair fell in loose waves, but it was very smooth looking. The shirt that was on her body made her curves more pronounced and her chest look bigger and perkier.

"So what do you think, Bella?" Alice asked. "Am I good? Or am I good?"

"You are good," I told her honestly, giving her a hug. "Thank you."

She hugged me back and then stepped back to look at me again, thoughtfully. She put her hands on her hips and looked at me with an odd look on her face. I gave her a questioning look, not understanding why she was looking at me the way that she was.

"You know what?" she asked. "I want you to have that shirt; it looks incredible on you - better than it looks on me."

"Alice, I can't accept this," I told her. "It's too much and I couldn't do that."

"Come on, Bella," Alice said, pouting again. "It'll make me feel better."

"You know, your pout is so not fair," I told her.

"You say this like I don't already know," Alice said. We both laughed and left her room to go to dinner.

Esme made a beautiful looking pork roast with mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, and rolls as side dishes. I sat next to Alice and Edward and Emmett sat across from us while Carlisle and Esme sat at the ends of the table. I tried really hard to not think about the fact that Edward was sitting right in front of me, but it was impossible to do - especially when I could feel his gaze on me. I tried to pay attention to the conversation that was flowing around me, but it was difficult.

"...think, Bella?" Alice asked me.

"Huh?" I asked, completely disorientated. Alice gave me a disapproving look before repeating what she had said.

"I said, I think that we should go shopping this weekend," Alice said.

"Oh," I said, sounding completely stupid. "I don't know, Alice; shopping isn't really my thing."

"Dude, you should just agree," Emmett said. "She's not gonna give up."

"This is true," Alice said, a smug, self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Fine, but I get to have veto powers on the clothes we get," I told her, giving her a look.

"I can live with that!" Alice said, literally bouncing in her seat with her excitement. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The rest of the dinner went by fairly well, although I could still feel Edward's gaze on me, making me blush. I wished that he would talk to me, but he wasn't a very social person. I knew that there had to be some reason why he was that way, but I had no idea how I would ask him. I shouldn't even be thinking about it; I was with Jake.

The more I thought about Edward, the more frustrated I became having to remind myself that I was with Jacob. Ever since the cookout, things had been weird between Jacob and me; he was becoming clingy and possesive. My feelings were platonic for him, like they'd been before I had moved to Forks, and I felt bad about staying in a relationship with him still. I knew that it was cruel to string him along in a relationship that was not going to last - especially since something that felt exponentially more powerful overshaddowed it.

I trusted Alice almost as much as I trusted Renee, so I decided that after dinner I would talk to her about my dilema. I wasn't sure if she was going to favor Edward because he was her brother, but I decided that I should try it anyway. When we were done with dinner, I helped clear the table with Alice and we went upstairs to her room.

"Alice, I have something I need to talk to you about," I told her.

"Okay, I'm listening," Alice said as she sat on her bed, indian style.

"So, as you know, I'm dating Jacob," I told her. When she nodded her head in acknowledgement, I continued. "Well, I feel like things have become platonic with us and I'm not sure what to do about it. I mean, I've known him my entire life and I want to remain friends with him, but we're just not right together as a couple. But I don't know if I can break up with him; I love him, but like a brother. And he's apparently liked me for awhile, so I don't think he wouldn't handle it very well if I broke up with him..." I trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Alice looked at me thoughtfully before responding. "Do you think that your feelings for Edward are the reason why you feel like the relationsip has become platonic?" I widened my eyes in astonishment - how did she know that - and Alice took that as a confirmation. "Well, as bad as this is going to sound, I think that you should break up with Jake; he is kinda posessive and you don't seem like the type who likes that."

I thought about what she said. "Well, Jacob never used to be like this. He was always so nice and he made me so happy, but at the cookout his behavior was completely embarassing. But I still care about him. I'm just so confused right now and I don't know what to do."

"Bella, I want to ask you some kind of personal questions," Alice said. "When you think of Jake, does your heart feel like it's trying to fly out of your chest? Does he make you think about the future and having kids with him? Is he the man that you want to grow old with?"

"No," I sighed, defeated. "I don't feel that with Jacob."

"Exactly," Alice said, a smug smile on her face. "And, I don't even know if you've noticed this, but you keep calling Jake 'Jacob.' When you first told me about him, you said his name is 'Jake.' Now that your feelings have changed, you have been calling him 'Jacob.'"

I widened my eyes; I hadn't noticed that I was doing that. Again, Alice took my look of shock as a confirmation that she was correct and continued what she was talking about.

"So things obviously aren't working out with you guys," Alice continued. "Shit happens. But you have the opportunity to be with an amazing guy, and I'm not just saying that because he's my brother. He's been through some rough stuff, and that stuff has made him shut people out, but he's a really great guy. I think that, if anyone could help bring Edward out of his shell, it's you; you guys have some strange connection that I don't even understand. He likes you, a lot actually, but you need to end things with Jake before you can persue Edward."

I thought about what she said and I realized that she had a fair point. It was no one's fault that my relationship with Jacob had changed. I needed to take responsibility and end things with Jacob. Deciding, however, was the easy part; I couldn't even imagine how I would actually end things with him. I decided to ask Alice for her advice on how to break up with him.

"Well, I know it's not going to be easy, but you're just going to have to suck it up and do it," Alice told me. "Be nice about it, and tell the truth because I know that if I were getting dumped, I wouldn't want to be lied to. Oh, and don't break up with him over a text message or a phone call. I know it'll probably make things harder, but it would be better to break up in person. If things are meant to work out, then they will."

I nodded and we moved onto a less depressing subject. I went home after it started getting late after promising that I would hang out with her again on the weekend. When I got home, I thought of ways to break up with Jacob, but they all sounded horrible to me. It wasn't like I could just walk up to him and say, "Hey Jacob, I found someone better; we're over." I really did care about him and I still wanted to remain friends with him, and I knew that that wasn't the way to do it.

I fell asleep with my thoughts. Apparently that was enough to make me dream about it.

_____

* * *

_

_I was sitting on the rocks at La Push beach with Jacob sitting next to me. He ran his fingers through my hair and I internally cringed at the gesture; it seems too intimate to me. He looked at me with a peculiar expression on his face._

_"Why are you looking at me like that?" my dream-self asked the dream-Jacob._

_"There's something that I need to tell you," dream-Jacob told me._

_"I have something that I need to tell you, too," I said._

_"Well why don't you go first?" he asked._

_I sighed before saying, "You are such an amazing person, Jake. I'm so glad that I have you in my life, but I don't think I'm meant to be in a relationship with you; I think we're meant to be friends. I know that sounds completely cliche - let's just be friends - but it's true. I'm so sorry, Jacob."_

_Jacob's face seemed to be frozen in a look of shock. I said his name quietly, hoping to snap him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in._

_"Bella, I know you don't mean that," Jacob said, his voice sounding different._

_"I'm sorry," was all I could say to him._

_"It's Cullen, isn't it?" Jacob asked, his voice void of emotion. Being unable to answer, I nodded my head solemnly._

_"I can't accept that, Bella," he suddenly said, his eyes blazing with emotion. "I can't because I love you; I always have. If you can't be with me then you can't be with anyone."_

_I felt adrenaline shoot through my veins and my heartbeat increase as my brain registered the change in Jacob. My brain started preparing for him to hit me, even though in real life I knew that Jacob would never do that. I closed my eyes tightly and cringed as I watched him raise his arm up and make a fist._

_"Don't you dare touch her," a voice snarled. I could recognize that voice anywhere..._

_I opened one eye and looked at where I sensed the voice was coming from. Dream-Edward was running towards us, his eyes blazing in his anger._

_"Oh yeah?" dream-Jacob challenged. "And what are _you _going to do about it?"_

_I watched as Jacob stood up and walked towards Edward. From where I was sitting, still frozen from the shock of Jacob almost hitting me, it looked like Jacob's entire body was quivering in his anger. I watched as Jacob lifted his fist towards Edward and Edward sliding out of the way. They moved too fast for my eyes to focus on what was going on, but I could tell that someone was winning and the other was losing. I watched as Edward elbowed Jacob hard in the head, effectively knocking him out._

_Edward walked slowly to where I was sitting, his hands held up - looking like a suspect approaching a police officer - and his face looked cautious._

_"Bella?" dream-Edward asked softly. "Are you okay?"_

_He sat down next to me and hesitantly wrapped his arms around me. I felt my body relax into his embrace and, in turn, I felt his body relax, too. We sat there for an immeasurable amount of time, looking out at the ocean._

_"Thank you for saving me," my dream-self told Edward. _

_"Bella, don't you realize?" Edward asked. "I would do anything for you."_

_Although I couldn't see his face, I could hear the sincerity of his words. His fingers ran softly through my hair and I unconsciously hummed in pleasure; it felt so different to me compared to when Jacob - who was no longer in my dream - was doing it. I felt his lips press into my neck very softly and I couldn't help the light moan that escaped my lips._

_"Bella, I want you," Edward told me._

_"Take me," I said boldly._

_Edward gently leaned me back so that he was hovering above me. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. The feel of his lips, both soft and strong, was indescribable; I could only tell that it felt right. I spread my legs slightly and Edward eased his way inbetween them. He gently ran his tongue over my bottom lip, silently asking for permission for me to open my mouth; I was only too happy to oblige. _

_His mouth tasted like mint and something that could only be discribed as Edward. Our tongues fought for dominance, but I was all too happy to let Edward's tongue plunge into my mouth. I moaned at the feel of Edward's tongue; it made me think of the other ways that he could use his tongue. Getting bold, I latched my mouth around his tongue and sucked gently. The sexy groan that escaped Edward's lips was enough to send me into a frenzy. I pushed his chest so that he would get on his back._

_I straddled his hips while I helped Edward take his shirt and I gasped as I saw the distinct six pack on his stomach. I didn't care that we were in a public place; all I could focus on was Edward. Being unable to resist, I kissed my way down his neck and chest, keeping eye contact with him, until I reached his muscles. I traced his muscles with my tongue, enjoying watching his muscles clenched. _

_"Bella, we have to stop," Edward groaned, his voice lower in his obvious arousal._

_Getting bold, I cupped his arousal and said, "I don't think you want me to stop."_

_The groan that escaped his lips was enough to make me keep going. I unbuttoned his pants and tried pulling his pants and boxers down in one swift movement. As I wrapped my fingers around the waistband, Edward's hands wrapped around my wrists._

_"Bella, I can't let you do this," Edward said._

_"Let me thank you for rescuing me," I told him, my voice unconsciously going deeper. "Let me pleasure you."_

_Since he wouldn't let go of my wrists, I ran my tongue over the exposed V slowly. I felt his muscles clench, making me smile internally; _I _did that to him. He eventually gave up, letting go of my wrists, and let me continue what I was doing. I pulled his pants and boxers down to his knees and gasped when I saw the length and girth that he had. I moaned unconsciously before slowly licking from the bottom to the top. I took the head of his cock into my mouth and ran my tongue around it slowly._

_"Fuck, Bella," Edward moaned, clenching his eyes tightly._

_I waited until I had eye contact with him again before taking his entire length into my mouth. I felt his head hit the back of my throat, but it didn't bother me; I didn't have a gag reflex. I slowly lifted my head up his length, swirled my tongue around the head again, and plunged his cock into my mouth._

_"Fuck," Edward panted. "I'm not going to last much longer."_

_At his words, I sped up my pace, using my teeth gently as I lifted my head. I maintained eye contact with him as I brought him closer to ecstacy. I took his balls into my hand and rubbed them lightly. I felt them tighten up before Edward released into my mouth in three long spurts. I swallowed what he gave me before releasing his cock from my mouth. I slowly ran my tongue over my lips and moaned at Edward's taste._

_"I can't believe you did that," Edward said breathlessly, redressing himself. "You're amazing."_

_"I'd do anything for you, too," I told him._

_"Then would you honor me in being my girlfriend?" he asked me._

_"I would like nothing more than to be your girlfriend," I told him._

___

* * *

_

I woke up in the middle of the night, remembering the dream vividly. It made me wonder if my subconscious was trying to send me a message by making me have that dream. I thought back to all of the things that I remembered. I remembered breaking up with Jacob and him freaking out. _Was that my subconscious telling me that breaking up with him was a bad idea?_ I remembered Edward showing up and saving me from Jacob. _Was that my subconscious trying to tell me that Edward would protect me?_ I remember giving Edward a blow job. The memory made me blush; I could never be that bold and confident in real life. _Was that my subconscious telling me that Edward could help make me confident and feel sexy?_ I remembered him asking me to be his girlfriend. _Was that my subconscious trying to tell me that Edward wanted me, too?_

I was more confused than I was before I went to bed. The dream created more questions than answers for me and that frustrated me.

"Why can't I just get this over with?" I asked myself.

I rolled over onto my other side and fell asleep to dreams that made more sense and were a lot less complicated.


End file.
